


Making Your Own Future

by CaptainDooladay



Category: Hotel Transylvania (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDooladay/pseuds/CaptainDooladay
Summary: After the events from the second movie, Dracula tries to live his life as honestly as possible, and that means being open with Mavis and trying to be nice when humans are around, especially with Johnny. When Dracula gets exposed to the dating scene, his options are limited due to his stubbornness. But that may change for him when a chance encounter changes his thoughts on humans... and his heart.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. Happy Birthday Dennis!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula promises Mavis to be more honest with her in the future after the events at Dennis's birthday party.

The ordeal was over.

The cronies were scared straight with the involvement of the other monsters and humans fighting back, Mavis and Johnny get to stay here in Hotel Transylvania, and lastly, Dennis had finally gotten his fangs. This birthday was definitely something to remember for the ginger-haired by and his blended family.

Having some suspicion that the gremlin lady would eat Dennis’ birthday cake, Johnny and Mavis had created a backup cake for the boy, which had a simpler design than its previous predecessor. It still had the white and red number five. Everyone had sung happy birthday, his mother beckoning him to her to hold him. When Dennis was able to make his wish, but what was there to wish.

He was able to stay with the people he loved.

His papa Drac would have been absolutely lonely if Mavis and Johnny left, and he wouldn’t be able to see his uncle Franks and uncle Wayne and all of his other monster relatives. And worst of all he wouldn’t see his dearest friend Winnie every day. It would have been hard on him.

But now that didn’t matter.

He was with all of his family, and his family loved him just as he was. Monster or human, they were there for him.

After the celebration, Dennis was getting used to his newfound power and strength, constantly turning into a bat to show off his flying skills to everyone, especially his great-grandpa Vlad, who had nodded in approval.

Dracula had walked to his father, a smirk on his face. “Looks like we have our first human-vampire in our wakes,” he declared to the ancient vampire.

“Yeah, and the next one I’m gonna be there for,” Vlad jeered. “You may have gotten away with raising your kid all these years and your grandson without me, but you’re not gonna get away with it this time.”

Dracula had cocked his head and crossed his arms “What are you blabbering about?”

Vlad had looked over at Dennis, who was using his powers to lift things up, including his friend Winnie. “If by some great miracle your kid decides to have another kid, trust me when I say I will be present for the arrival of the little vamp.”

“You’ve spent too long of a time in your cave, dad,” Dracula laughed, “Denisovich finally has gotten his fangs and you’re already talking about another Dracula.”

“We need to strengthen our ancestral pool,” Vlad had commanded, Dennis catching a spear that was about to fall on Winnie, “plus his powers will be put to good use.”

“Dad,” Dracula scorned, “what’s this really about?”

Vlad’s eyes furrowed down with a dead stare, “seriously? You’re that blind to it?”

“Dad quick beating around the coffin and get to it,” Dracula snapped.

“Well, you asked,” Vlad spoke, fixing his spiderweb covered cape, “you keep a lot of secrets and bad secrets at that.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” the younger vampire questioned, his voice on the defense.

“You didn’t tell me about Mavis, or that you have a grandkid,” Vlad stated, “but most importantly you didn’t say he was half-human.”

“But if I told you about Johnny you would have eaten his soul,” Dracula said, “he may be annoying but Mavis loves him, and if Mavis is happy, then I’m happy.”

“Ooooh sure,” Vlad deadpanned, “that’s why you had him dress up like my grandmother’s boobies and make up that ridiculous vampire accent.”

“It was an urgent situation; I didn’t want to lose Mavis or Denisovich and go live with humans,” Dracula defended, his words hardening when it came to the mortal beings.

“Still,” Vlad insisted, “I mean that’s just breaking the sacred word of a Dracula.”

Dracula was about to argue his father’s words but was caught with Mavis looking at him while holding Dennis on her hip, an innocent smile on both of their faces. Trying to derail their attention, he smiled back and waved at them.

“Listen, _dad_ , I’m not going to argue with you what secrets I should or shouldn’t keep from my family,” Dracula started, “now if you excuse me, I’m going to spend the rest of my evening with my vampson.”

* * *

“...But mommy, I don’t wanna go to bed. I wanna go fly with papa Drac,” Dennis said, who couldn’t stop showing off his new fangs to his mother. He wanted to fly into the night and 

“I know, baby, but even sky-hungry vampires like you need rest,” Mavis entreated as she pulled his chin up and kissed his nose. “Now you rest.”

“Okay, mommy,” Dennis somnolent, the boy soon yawning and in the process showing off his glinting fangs before he slunk into his racer bed. Mavis had gotten up and left Dennis to sleep. When she headed to the living room, she saw her father using his powers to place away all of Dennis’ toys in a living room chest.

“Hey dad,” Mavis said.

“Hello, my little raven,” Dracula said, looking at her with a smile, “tonight was a wonderful night.”

“It sure was,” Mavis affirmed, but had sighed, “but I think we need to talk.”

“Of course, my little ghoul,” Dracula agreed, sitting down at the couch with concern and had his hands on his knees. Mavis had sat down next to him, looking at him. “What is it?”

“Even though I decided to stay here in Transylvania, there were some things that still need to be fixed,” she started off. “You can’t just keep withholding secrets from me and doing things behind my back, like taking Dennis for a whole week to try and make him a vampire.”

“But honey bat -,” Dracula objected, taking her hands and rubbing it, “Denisovich would have been alone and sad in the human world. I just wanted to protect him… just like I protected you.”

“Protecting me is one thing,” Mavis disputed, taking her hands from her father, “keeping secrets and not trusting me enough to know I can handle things is another.”

“But Mavis I do trust you. it’s the world that I don’t trust,” Dracula clarified.

“Daddy,” she hesitated, “I know the reason why you lie and keep secrets from me is that you’re afraid of losing me… like mom.”

Martha was a sensitive topic for Dracula to talk about. Her death was untimely and unjust. It triggered the Count to create his hotel for those who too were persecuted.

“… You have to promise me to be more open to communicating and be honest about things,” Mavis pleaded. “You raised me to do the right thing, now let me do the right thing on my own.”

“I… I’ll do my best,” Dracula promised, a hesitant smile painted on his lips. Mavis soon embraced him, Dracula’s arms around his child with care. “I love you.”

“I love you too, dad,” Mavis said, tightening around him. She saw the curtains of her living room slightly brighten. “We better go to bed.”

“Yes,” Dracula agreed, yawning and stretching as he soon left Mavis alone.

She was right.

His disdain for humans was still present, and almost ruined his relationship with Mavis. He had to do something about it. He needed to let go of his dislike for humans… and in doing so, he had to let go of some other things.

He had to move on from Martha.

He headed to his chambers that early morning and undid his dressings for bed. He had looked at his gold wedding band, the red ruby shining brightly still. He had held it to his lips, closing his eyes and thinking of his sweet Martha.

“Your death was not in vain… we raised our daughter to be a wonderful woman and a fantastic mother.” Dracula could remember the hardships of raising Mavis on his own before creating the hotel. Mavis having married Johnny didn’t help it either. “But my feelings for humans still haven’t changed. I want to stop hating, I want to stop feeling this way. Martha… please. Help me heal.”


	2. Drac Takes On Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula fails at another blind date with Frank's right arm's cousin. Mavis wants Dracula and Johnny to spend time together.

_One Year Later_

The music began to play at the wedding reception. The bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Prickles were the star of tonight’s event. After a few hiccups at the aisle and amongst other things, they were finally wed. Johnny, who was the hotel’s human relations coordinating co-assistant for a while, was also a DJ for any events that were happening.

“DJ Jazzy Johnny in the house!” Johnny bellowed as he was mixing the records, sporting a tuxedo t-shirt and a black hat with its visor backward, “It’s time to welcome the happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Pickles!” he soon turned the music on to a soft 70s R&B soul tune, the couple on the dance floor and having their first dance together as husband and wife.

“The bride and groom invite everyone to join them on the dance floor!” Johnny finished. Soon the rest of the monster at the reception began to get on the floor and dance with their own significant others.

All except Count Dracula.

He had set up the wedding, made the event happen, and everything else, and now here he was standing by himself while the other monogamous couples danced. It made him sad. He longed for the feeling of being in love and being one with someone. Now he was just a bystander who watched from the sidelines.

A tap on his temple had disrupted his despondence, words filling his ears. “Care to dance?”

He looked to his side and saw a rather voluptuous monster look at him. She had crimson red hair that matched her red sequin dress. Her skin was pale sea green, her eyes blue. The only thing that was brightly colored was her fur shawl. Dracula dashed an impressed smile.

His friends watched from the distance as Dracula took interest in her.

Griffin had spoken, his glasses raised in disbelief. “Is that her?”

Murray had whistled, “woohoo, watch out now! She’s got stitches in _all_ the right places,” he slurred in approval.

Griffin, who was still in disbelief, spoke up to challenged Frank, “okay there’s no way _that_ is related to _you_ , Frank said. There was an obvious difference in shape. The Franken-female was slender, while Frank… was not.

“Nah, she’s my right arm’s cousin,” Frank demurred.

Dracula offered his hand to the woman, a nervous chuckle escaping his forced grin. The other had offered her hand, but it was not her left hand that she gave. It was her right, and it was far from identical to her thing green one. She had a pale blue and grotesquely large arm. She took his hand, nearly crushing it, and yanked Dracula to her, the vampire screeching in shock and pain.

His friends hissed as they saw Dracula manhandled. “I see it now,” Griffin chuckled.

After a few good minutes of having his bones bend in ways it shouldn’t, Dracula had taken control of the DJ set, to which Johnny expressed his dislike. Dracula was able to sneak away to his friends while the Franken-female searched for him.

“What’s the matter Drac, you didn’t like her?” Frank asked.

“No offense but you can’t be too picky,” Griffin concurred, “you haven’t had a date in 100 years.”

“Look, guys, I appreciate your concern but it’s-it’s not up to me,” Dracula argued, “you only zing once, and I did.”

“Times have changed, buddy,” Griffin convinced the woeful single Count, “you can even find someone to zing with on your _phone_ now.”

Dracula had gotten excited, “What? Really?”, but had to retract his exuberance. “Oh no no no,” he refused, “I’m far too busy. I have Mavis and Dennis and the hotel, blah blah blah.” Dracula had pulled out his phone and began to download any app that would soon help him find someone.

“Don’t forget your unborn-“ Frank couldn’t get to Dracula as he had already disappeared. "And he's gone."

* * *

Dracula had sauntered through the large lobby, where he was pacing back and forth going through monster dating apps to start the process. He started to get matches, but none of them were what he wanted. One had too many eyes, another had too few eyes. He then saw a match that had tentacles, which was not his thing. Griffin was right: he was way too picky.

He didn’t know what to do.

He soon heard the familiar sound of laughter erupting from the top stair entrance of the right-wing. It was Dennis, who had slid down the slope and jumped off to turn into a bat. “Hi papa Drac!” he called him as he flapped his wings.

“Dennis, my little devil dog!” he exclaimed as he placed his phone back in his coat pocket and had approached. “How are you?”

“I’m good!” he said as he soon turned into his normal self and descended onto his grandfather’s lap. “I missed you!’

“I missed you too, Denisovich,” he cooed as he hugged her. “Where’s your mommy?”

“She’s trying to go down the stairs,” he confirmed. He looked at his mother, who was holding the stone wall of the lobby, and her obvious baby bump. Dracula had set Dennis down and sped to his daughter. He took her hand

“Careful, Mavy-Wavy,” he cautioned. “Careful.”

“Will you stop doting on me?” She joked, “I’m not helpless, I’m just _pregnant_.” Mavis was six months pregnant with her second child. Another little vampire - or human- would enter their lives and fill them with joy. She was overjoyed and happy to have another little one running around.

“I know, spider-monkey, but these steps can very very tricky. And why are you even out of bed, you should be laying down and relaxing.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to be cooped up in the room,” Mavis said as she had slowly eased herself onto the couch. Dennis had walked up to the baby bump.

“Hello?” he called to the bump. “When are you coming out to see us?”

“Dennis, the baby will come, just not now,” Mavis reassured, “besides, you took a long time to come out as well.”

“But I wanna see the baby,” Dennis said, his arms crossed as he was pouting.

“Now, now, Denisovich,” Dracula chastised, picking Dennis up and holding him to his chest, “the baby needs to get healthy before it comes out. And you don’t want your new sibling to come out sick right?”

“ _Dad_!” Mavis shot.

“What. I’m being honest,” Dracula eased and placed Dennis down, who went to kiss his mother’s belly. He soon headed upstairs.

“I should probably follow him and tell him goodnight,” Mavis ushered, getting up with a wince but was helped by her father.

“Are you having cravings?” he asked her as he held her hand. “Maybe some of that ice cream with anchovies thing you mentioned before, huh?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Mavis realized, “I mean, with Dennis I had a lot of cravings.”

“Well not every pregnancy has the same effect,” Dracula said. “It’ll be a smooth pregnancy I’m sure.”

“Of course, just like Dennis,” Mavis said as she was helped up the stairs, her father lecturing her to have taken the lobby instead. He took her back to her room, where she laid her down and helped her in bed.

“Daddy, I’m fine,” Mavis huffed with exasperation, covering herself with the blanket.

“I know, I know, I just want you to be comfortable when the baby comes,” Dracula explained, kissing his daughter on her temple.

“Dad? Can you do me a favor tomorrow?” Mavis asked.

“Of course, my little sugar skull, anything,” he soothed her.

“I want you to spend more time with Johnny,” Mavis said. “Spend some father and son-in-law bonding.”

“But Mavy-Wavy,” he whined, “do I have to? Every time we spend together is like torture.”

“Come on, dad,” Mavis said, “Johnny has been trying so hard in making you approve of him.”

“Mavis, how can you say I don’t approve of him when I let him marry you,” Dracula said. “Otherwise I would have found you a vampire bachelor.”

“Dad, be serious,” Mavis scorned, “you promised me that you’d be better with humans, and so far you’ve done alright. But you’re still holding back.”

“Mavis I’m trying. I’m really trying,” he pleaded, “but it’s not easy being around humans and socializing with them.”

“But dad, you have a grandson who is half-human, and you’re going to have another grandchild too,” Mavis argued, “are you gonna freak out like last time and take my child on a trip behind my back?”

“Oh not that again,” Dracula said with disdain, “I’m a changed vampire.”

“Good,” Mavis quipped, “because tomorrow you’re going to spend the entire evening with Johnny,” Dracula had sputtered in protest, “ _and_ you’re taking Dennis with you.”

Dracula sighed and surrendered soon, leaving the room, but not before Mavis spoke. “I love you,” she said to soften the blow.

“I love you, too, spider-monkey,” he called her before leaving the room and sighing to himself. He _really_ didn’t want to spend time with Johnny. After six long years of being married to his daughter, he’d think he’d formed a special bond with him. And it’s not like he and Johnny didn’t have good times; they _did_ have some great times, but sometimes it wasn’t enough to just laugh with him and be in space with him. He was a human, and humans in general didn’t fit well into his life.

Still. He was asked to do a favor for Mavis, and he was going to do so with a smile… even if he didn’t like it.

Besides, what could go wrong with a nice day and evening with Johnny?


	3. The Florist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Johnny and Dennis go and spend the day with their favorite vampire, they hit a few speed bumps with Drac as he's still trying to get used to humans; Dracula becomes captivated by a human florist named Ericka under the guise of her merciful nature.

The chamber was dark, the room’s only source of light being the moon. Dracula’s coffin, however, was dark and cool for his body. His satin coverings kept him relaxed, having no worries in the world he lived in. Something, however, nagged at the back of his head. He knew he needed to do something, but his bed was far more welcoming than that nagging thought that required his presence.

He soon heard a heavy knock on his coffin, Dracula opened his eyes and stayed still to see if it would repeat. He shrugged it off and sighed in content, ready to go back to sleep.

The knock had repeated, this time louder than the first. The Count had growled and opened the lid of the coffin with such force it had echoed throughout the chamber. Dracula’s eyes turned red, and his teeth were bared to whoever disturbed his slumber.

It was Johnny of course, who had coward at the vampires lashing.

“D-Drac! It’s me!” Johnny stammered, his arms hugging his head and his legs shaking in fright.

“Ugh…” Dracula dragged. “What are you doing in my room?”

“Well, Mavis said that you had a surprise for me,” Johnny explained.

Dracula had groaned and smacked his palm on his forehead. He had inhaled and spoked, “yes, I have a big surprise for you! It’s going to be _extra_ fun,” he said in a forced tone.

“Really?” Johnny squealed with glee, his fists under his chin with a hopeful attitude of having a great time with his father-in-law. “Oh yeah! Father slash son bonding!” Johnny began to dance foolishly.

“Enough!” Dracula snapped, using his powers to kick Johnny out of his room. He had groaned and got out of his coffin to get ready. The only good thing that would make this evening better was his grandson, who he adored so much. He had dressed up, placing his cape on, and stepping out of the room. He grumbled to himself as he had to spend time with Johnny.

He walked down the hallways to Mavis’s home, Mavis opening the door to see her father. “Hello my honey,” he said, giving a peck on her forehead. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Mavis said, “but more importantly are you _ready_?”

“Oh yes,” Dracula started, “in fact, I have a _surprise_ for him,” he said in a sarcastic voice.

Mavis had sighed, “I’m sorry. I wanted him to look forward to this just as much as you did. And who knows, you might enjoy it.”

“Where is my grandson?” he asked, not wanting to seem like he was stalling, but he definitely wanted to prolong the evening from happening.

“Here I am!” bellowed the young boy. “I’m here papa Drac!”

“Dennis, my curly-haired tarantula,” the Count cooed as he picked him up. “Are you ready to spend time with your vamp-pa?”

“Yeah!” Dennis exclaimed, “daddy is happy, too.”

“I’m sure he is,” Dracula deadpanned.

“Alright! I’m ready!” Johnny said as he stepped out of him and Mavis bedroom, where he had sported a shirt that said ‘I’m Hanging Out With My Dad-In-Law’. Johnny had a big smile on his face, Mavis looking at him with adoring eyes while Dracula was not amused.

“Are you kidding me?” he said before Dennis had laughed.

* * *

After a long and annoying car trip, Dracula had managed to survive the first portion of his evening with Dennis. He and Dennis did play with one another, Dracula playing the eye spy game. Johnny would sometimes ruin it by jumping int, much to Dennis’s elation and Dracula’s dismay. Johnny parked the hearse and stepping out and getting Dennis out of his seat booster. Dracula had since stepped our, his cape hugging his broad form. He was slouching, his face in a heavy frown and eyes furrowed.

“Alright, daddio-in-law-o,” Johnny said as he smirked, “where are you gonna take me and Dennis to first?”

“What are you-“ Dracula had to find something to do with the boy or Mavis will scold him, and he didn’t want to upset his daughter. “I have a… a few places I planned for us to be at.”

“Cool!” Johnny and Dennis said.

“Yes… cool, like I said, “ Dracula schemed.

Dracula led the two through town, taking Johnny and Dennis to the local pet shop for them to play with the animals. Johnny was used as a bird post by parrots while Dennis was being licked at by a few puppies. Dracula had looked at them from a fair distance when he had soon heard the growl of a German Shepard from behind him. Dracula had turned into a wolf and growled right back at him. The two animals began to back at each other, Johnny dashing out of the pet store while Dennis had turned into a bat and used his little feet to drag out his grandpa.

After that incident, the three soon went to an antique store, Dennis holding Johnny’s hand since the store had a lot of fragile-looking things. Dracula had sauntered down the aisle where they had monster hunting equipment and had displayed crosses all around. Without even confirming their authenticity, Dracula had hissed at the symbols. Johnny this time was the one to drag Dracula by his cape while Dennis had pushed Dracula back,

So far they've gone to every other store that didn’t cause Dracula any discomfort. Johnny did make some purchases. He had gotten a few Transylvania-designed jersey shirts and a few iron-on patches. “Tonight was… fun,” Johnny said, still holding on to a positive attitude.

“Did Papa Drac have a good time?” Dennis asked as he saw how stressed his grandfather was. Dracula was indeed in ruins. Having to keep up the facade of liking human items was exhausting. He looked down at his young grandson, whose blue puppy eyes looked back up at him.

“Every moment with you is a good time,” Dracula said.

“And me!” Johnny said cheerfully, Dracula giving him a death glare.

“Yes… with you as well,” Dracula pacified.

Johnny had looked around to see if any spots were open. “Aw man, looks like the stores are closing now…”

“Oh no,” Dracula mourned, but it was riddled with sarcasm, “I guess we outta go home.”

“Aw man,” Dennis whined, who looked genuinely disappointed, “I liked hanging out with you and daddy though.”

Dracula had looked at the boy’s little face, a twinge of sadness suddenly striking him. He didn’t want to disappoint his grandson, so he used his heightened vision to scan the area. There he saw a shophouse. “I found a place!”

“Yay!” Dennis cheered, the vampire smiling in excitement.

They all walked to the supposed shop, Dracula seeing the fluorescent lighting shine through the glass door and onto the cobbled pathway. He had looked up at the side of the wooden awning and read it in his mind.

“The Sunflower Shop,” Johnny said. “Oh, it’s a flower shop,” he stated the obvious.

“Really? I didn’t think of that at all,” Dracula quipped, Johnny nervously laughing. The three had stepped into the shop, opening the door and ringing the door.

“ _Just a minute!_ ” a woman said from the back, her voice attentive.

Dracula had looked around at all of the flowers that were stored in their floral coolers. All of them were beautiful to Dracula, seeing how well taken care of they were. They all had labels,scientific names, and fun facts about them. Dennis had looked at a Venus plant, seeing a fly sit in its mouth, the flaps of the Venus clamping shut.

Johnny was looking at the knickknacks that were there. There were little flower pots, ceramic flowers, and some gardening tools. Johnny had soon thought of an idea but was soon distracted by a sunflower patch with a matching iron-on patch. “Drac! Can I please get it?”

“What is it now,” he huffed as he had glide across the floor. He saw what he wanted. “You want that little thing?”

“Yesssss,” Johnny whined, “these remind of the sunflower fields back home in Cali. Please, please pleeeeeeeee-“

Dracula groaned as the sound of Johnny’s pitched voice started to annoy him. He soon gave in and let out a groan.

“Fine!” he snapped, “Fine, I’ll get you that thingie and we’re going home.”

“Yay!” Johnny squealed in a whisper. He grabbed the pin and headed to the front of the counter, seeing more knickknacks. Dennis hovered to the top, looking at the assistance bell, and pressed on it.

“ _I’ll be right there!_ ” the voice yelled again. Johnny had waited along with Dracula and Dennis. Soon after a tall woman with kiss curled short hair and gold sphere earrings appeared. She wore a white-collared shirt with a gold sunflower collar broach. “Didn’t mean to take so long, I didn’t expect anyone to come during this time,” she apologized, her cheeks flushed as if she struggled with something heavy.

“It’s okay,” Johnny said, “Anyways, I wanna ring this up.”

The woman had looked at the items and smiled. “Excellent choice. That sunflower set just went back in stock,” she said.

“They remind me of the sunflower fields back in Cali,” Johnny said, the woman running up the items.

“Oh, that’s nice. I see a lot of them back in Amsterdam,” the woman replied.

“That’s pretty cool,” Johnny responded. “Do you travel?”

“All the time, but I’m been here taking care of my shop,” she said.

“Ahem,” Dracula hawked, Johnny jumping.

“Oh, this is my father-in-law, Count Dracula,” Johnny introduced, Dracula plainly waving at the woman, who waved back at him. She then noticed the curly hair boy who had a flower pot in his hand with a unique looking flower.

“Do you have cash or credit?” the woman joked at the boy, who had turned red. This had elicited a light chuckle from Dracula.

“Daddy, can we get this for mommy?” Dennis asked Johnny.

“Sure thing, buddy,” Johnny said, the boy walking to Johnny. He had accidentally tripped on his shoelace and dropped the pot, the pot breaking.

“Oh no!” Dennis said. Dracula soon began to panic, his eyes dilated as he was scared for what the woman’s reaction would be. Would she be angry at Dennis for breaking the pot, or call the police? The most outrageous scenarios began to swirl in through his head, taking him back to a place he didn’t want to remember.

“Oh sweetheart, it's okay,” the woman said, walking around the counter and getting a dustpan and broom, “I know you didn’t mean to drop the pot, you just had loose shoelaces, huh?

“Uh-huh,” Dennis said, his tears welling up.

“Oooh don’t cry sweetheart,” the woman hushed, sweeping the dirt and placing it in a new pot with the soil, the flower standing tall and proud. “There, see? Now, this little moonflower can get to your mommy safe and sound.”

Dennis’s worries were gone, but his tears had yet to disappear. The human had pulled out a tissue and had wiped Dennis’s tears away.

“Human compassion at its finest, huh Dracula?” Johnny teased, nudging Dracula. Johnny was expecting to get yelled out or have something sarcastic come out of the vampire's mouth, but not a sound was heard from him.

Dracula was fixed on the woman, specifically on the human’s compassion.

She had taken the pot with the flower to the counter, placing a purple ribbing around some iridescent cellophane wrapping to protect the flower. Dracula had given his money to the woman, giving her too much in fact. She had chuckled and given him the large sum back. Johnny and Dennis had left the shop, Dracula taking a lot of time to head outside.

“Is… there anything else you need, Sir?” she asked him, noticing his demeanor change.

“Actually…” Dracula had looked out of the shop to see where Johnny and Dennis were. They sat on a bench, Dennis looking at the flower while Johnny had looked at his new pin. He had soon sped walked to the woman. “There is _one_ thing…”

“Y… yes?” she question, her eyes looking at him up and down and wondering what he was about to ask.

“Yes… I wish to know… what is your name?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in affirmation.

“My name?” she asked in hopes that would be all he would ask for the evening. “It’s Ericka.”

“Ericka…” he repeated, his eyes now dazed. He soon fixed himself up and cleared his throat, reminding himself that this was just a human. “thank you for assisting us.” He began to walk away from the counter.

“No problem,” she eased, seeing him effortlessly walk across the narrow paths. “Tell your friends!”

Dracula had made eyes at her business card, which had her name and phone number with a sunflower motif on the corners. He used his powers to discreetly take the card and placed it in his coat pocket. He soon left with the boys, Johnny driving

He pulled out the card to see the ochre yellow print color in a cursive font. Johnny had looked to his side and saw the card. “Looks like you got yourself a little girlfriend.”

Dracula sputtered, looking at him with venomous eyes, “she is not my girlfriend!” he defended, “I just took a business card just in case I wanted to-“

“Call her?” Johnny quipped.

“NO!” Dracula yelled, “I just took it alright for… business intel,” Dracula had gotten frustrated with Johnny and growled. “Whatever, I don’t have to explain anything to you. Keep your eyes on the road, you _hippie_.”

“Alright, alright,” Johnny said defensively, “I’m just cracking some jokes with you. But don’t worry. I won’t tell Mavis. It’s just us guys, right?”

“Right!” Dennis chirped.

* * *

“Oh baby this is so sweet,” Mavis said as she looked at the now exposed flower.

“Yeah!” Johnny said, Dennis in his pajamas and ready to fall asleep. “Turns out these little guys bloom during the night time and go to sleep during the day.”

“Just like me!” Mavis beamed. “Sounds like you guys had a pretty great night.”

“We sure did, hon,” Johnny said in confidence. “I think your dad is _finally_ warming up to me.”

“Johnny, I’ve told you a million times, my dad loves you,” Mavis said with confidence, but she knew her dad was still where he was in his growth, “he’s just a little skittish of some humans still.”

“I know…” Johnny said, looking at the sunflower pin.

Meanwhile, Dracula was back in his room looking at the card as he was getting red to go to bed, being in just his white tank top and pajama pants. He didn’t know why, but his demeanor was different. He couldn’t put a finger on it, nor a fang, but he knew something shifted within him.

And it had all to do with _her_.

He pulled out his cellphone and logged the cellphone number in. He would have put her name, but sometimes his grandson would play games on his phone. He had simply placed a flower emote as a place holder for the name until he felt comfortable in changing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was by far my favorite chapter (even though it was my third chapter). I think I've captured the likeness of the characters, and I hope you guys appreciate it.


	4. The Usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hotel runs like usual; Dracula has yet to receive a message from the florist.

A couple of days had passed since Johnny and Dennis spend time with Dracula. Mavis was happy that her favorite boys were hanging out with each other. She would have joined in on the fun, but she was still carrying a little one within her.

It was the evening time, and Mavis wanted to see how the hotel was looking without her help. Her dad may have done everything at the hotel, but even the Prince of Darkness needed help sometimes. She had started to use the elevator since her dad didn’t want her walking down the stairs and hurt herself.

She left the elevator and saw some familiar faces leaving the hotel. “Hey, Uncle Frank!”

Frank and Eunice were checking out of the hotel after the wedding event, having their suitcases on them… well Frank had the suitcases. “Hey, Mavis!”

“Oh. My. Goodness!” Eunice said, tossing her small purse on the already large load of suitcases on Frank. She had approached Mavis, her long manicured fingers touching the young vampire’s stomach, “you’re already getting so big!” she exclaimed.

“Thanks, auntie Eunice,” Mavis said, her hand on her aunt’s stitched digits.

“Do you know if you’re gonna a little girl?” Eunice inquired, soon squealing, “oooooh I hope it’s a little girl! You can dress her up and everything!”

“But auntie Eunice, we don’t _know_ what the gender is?” Mavis clarified. “I’d be happy with another little boy, just Dennis.”

“But don’t you want another mini you running around?” Eunice asked, “I know that if I had a little girl, I would spoil her rotten!”

“Well when the time comes, we’ll see if it’s gonna be a boy or a girl,” Mavis said. “What matters is that the baby will be healthy and happy.”

“Of course,” Eunice said. They soon both heard a thud, turning their attention to Frank who fell apart from carrying all of the luggage. “Excuse me for one second,” Eunice dispensed. “FRANK! Be careful, my shoes are in there!” she scorned. She had to excuse herself and help her husband, Mavis laughing at her relatives.

She walked to the front counter to see Johnny manning the area. “Hey baby,” Mavis said as she looked at her husband.

“Hey, honey,” Johnny said, “how are you? Did you need anything?”

“No, I just wanted to see what was up,” Mavis asked. She noticed the enameled sunflower pin Johnny showed off to her a few nights before, “I see you’re wearing the pin dad got you.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said, tugging it enough to see it, “it was a nice little gift.”

She had giggled at her husband’s fondness of the pin. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

“How are you enjoying the flower?” Johnny asked.

“I had woken up during the day to get a glass of blood beaters and noticed the petals were closed. When I started my evening I saw the flower was opened. It was so beautiful.”

“Just like you,” Johnny said, Mavis, giggling and leaning in to kiss her husband. They both heard and sound of disgust, turning around to see Winnie and Dennis with their hands over their eyes, Winnie peeking through her paws childishly.

“And what are you guys ‘ewing’ about,” Johnny inquired, “when you get older you guys are gonna be doing the same thing.”

“Ew!” Dennis said, shrugging in a grimace.

“Maybe, if my second business doesn’t bring in a steady income,” Winnie hypothesized as she had already planned her life. “But my zing-zing will get _all_ the kisses he deserves,” Winnie professed, looking at Dennis with _puppy_ eyes. Dennis had his head between his shoulders, turning into a bat and flying away, Winnie chasing him.

Mavis and Johnny laughed at the two kids. “It’s funny,” Mavis reminisced, “I was the same way when I was younger. Whenever my dad would talk about love or anything remotely close to it I would be so weird about.”

“In speaking of your dad, where _is_ he?” Johnny asked. “He’s usually around saying ‘welcome to Hotel Transylvania, blah blah blah!’” Johnny mimicked, his fingers clawed. Mavis had laughed.

“I’m sure he’s around somewhere,” Mavis reassured. “As a matter of fact, I’ll go up to his room.”

* * *

Dracula fixed the collar of his cape, fixing the purple interior that was decorated inside. He looked down at himself and saw if there were any balls of lint or stray hairs that lingered. He sighed was soon about to head out the door. He had soon patted his coat pocket and his pants and realized that he didn’t have his phone on him.

He went back to his coffin and gotten his phone. He opened it up and looked at all of his contacts to see if anyone had contacted him. Johnny had texted him about some new ideas he thought of which was about a few days ago. He didn’t bother to text him back; it was always something to improve the hotel better or something human-related. He then looked at Mavis’ text, a video of the baby kicking with a fancy text saying ‘Can't-Wait To See You’. The vampire had smiled at the video.

He had looked through all the other contacts and had soon noticed the new contact he had made. It had the flower emote, which triggered his encounter with that woman. He tapped the text icon, a blank page opening. His thumbs hovered over the touch keyboard, trying to think of something to say.

But before he could think, a knock on his door startled him. “ _Dad?_ ”

He had jumped, involuntarily flinging his phone up in the air, and like a bar of soap, he tried to grab it. It almost fell on the ground, but Dracula’s telekinesis saved it from being shattered. “I’ ’m almost ready!” He finally held it and texted a quick ‘hello’ in the message and sent it to Ericka. “Come in!”

Mavis entered the room, seeing her dad with his phone. “How are you?” she asked.

“Oh I’m fine, just checking my phone for any messages,” he said as he smiled at the video. “I loved the video you sent me.”

“Thanks, I thought you might like it,” Mavis sweetly said. “What’s the workload for today?”

“You know, the Bones family is coming for a reunion, the Hydraburgs are going to probably change rooms as usual, and Mr. Bigfoot might clog up his toilet,” Dracula listed off, already dreading the evening.

“Sounds like the usual,” Mavis said. “I’ll see you later tonight?”

“Yes,” Dracula said as he had soon headed out. Hopefully, Ericka would text, or probably not. Either way, his work would distract him for the evening.

* * *

The evening was exactly how it always was.

Dracula dealt with some familiar faces, smiling and grinning and talking to them with the exception of some disgruntle monsters. He had a rather pleasantly busy evening in spite of it all. He looked at the time on the front desk’s computer

It was six in the morning.

By just looking at the time, he began to yawn. He entered the elevator, taking the soft gears of the elevator as sleep sounds for his aching eyes. He soon headed to his bedroom, having readied himself for bed, and placed his phone on the charger. He soon remembered the phone and had opened to see if Ericka would reply.

There was no reply, not even a ‘delivered’ indicator shown.

He sighed in frustration, turning his phone off and heading to sleep in his coffin. Maybe he’ll have a better chance of hearing from her tomorrow.


	5. Dracula’s Texting Frenzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny wants to expand more opportunities for the hotel; Dracula learns through trial and error that there is more than one type of phone in the human world.

Dracula had sent various types of messages to Ericka, none of them even having been responded to. He didn’t know what else to do other than call her, but he was too frantic and didn’t do so good talking to others on the phone. He had sighed and sent another text message to her:

_HELLO! ITS COUNT DRACULA AGAIN._

_I’M NOT SURE IF YOU RECEIVED MY_

_MESSAGES BEFORE, BUT I WISH TO_

_SPEAK TO YOU!_

He didn’t know what else he could have done other than just wait it out a bit more. But how much could he wait? It was a full twelve hours, having constantly texted her during the daylight. And now he had to do another night long shift and act normal. He just wanted to sit in his coffin and wait for a reply.

He soon heard a knock on the door, to which he jumped again, this time having an iron grip on his phone. “C-Come in!” Dracula jittered, looking at his messages and seeing all of the frantic messages.

The door opened for Johnny to come in. “Hey, Drac, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about some ideas I had.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah sure,” Dracula said as he was pacing back and forth in his chambers.

“And one of the ideas was that the hotel is so popular, we could have some outside shops sell some of their merchandise, and I know just the shop to get first dibs,” Johnny said.When he couldn’t find Dracula immediately, he looked up to the ceiling to see Dracula pacing back and forth. “Are you… are you busy?”

Dracula had ignored Johnny as he was too fixated on his phone to acknowledge him. Johnny had sighed in disappointment but had perked up at an idea. “You know… Mavis and I are kinda drifting apart… I think we might separate.”

“What?” Dracula spat, soon landing on his feet with a thud, “Really?”

“Ha!” Johnny exclaimed, a finger pointing at him, “I knew that would work.”

This frustrated him, Dracula growling. “What do you want!”

“I’m trying to talk to you but all you’re doing is looking at your phone,” Johnny complained,“I’ve never seen you so glued to it before.”

“Just tell me what you want already!” Dracula said as he had tapped his foot vigorously on the stone flooring of his room.

“Fine. I was thinking of selling Ms. Ericka’s flowers,” Johnny said, opening his phone and showing him her website. “It looks like she just opened her shop a few weeks ago. She’s only been able to sell the pins like the sunflowers, but other than that she’s doing alright.”

“What!” Dracula said, snatching Johnny’s phone and seeing her in front of her shop posing for a picture. She was in white pantsuits with white boots. She looked so confident and assure of herself. He looked at her contact info and seen the same phone number. “Why would we be selling flowers at the hotel? This isn’t the Bacteria Garden.”

“Ugh, I think you mean the Botanical Garden,” Johnny corrected, “and besides. She was really sweet looking, not to mention you went back to talk to her.”

“What? I didn’t _talk_ to her,” Dracula protested, “I just… I just said goodbye to her, that’s it.”

“Yeah, a goodbye that consisted of a phone number at the end,” Johnny teased.

“Will you stop that?” Dracula harshly whispered.

“Relax dude, It’s all chill,” Johnny reassured, “were you able to talk to her?”

“No… she hasn’t even replied to any of my messages… some _phone_ number she has, “he grouched, “I mean what kind of person doesn’t even reply to someone else’s text messages. You can obviously see if someone texts you?” Dracula asked, hoping for an answer to fall from the sky.

Johnny, who had similar experiences with his father-in-law, had frowned, “yeah, I wonder who would do that,” he groaned.

“It’s like she doesn’t even _see_ the text messages,” Dracula whined, looking at his phone in agony.

“Could it be that she has a landline phone?” Johnny asked.

“A what? Why would she have a land mine for a phone?” Dracula said, unknowingly mishearing what Johnny said, “that would be dangerous.”

“No. Land. _Line_ ,” Johnny enunciated, “it’s still a phone but you can’t take it around. It's not a mobile phone.”

“You mean to tell me that I’ve been texting to a _landline_ number this entire time?” Dracula said as he had thought he had discovered a new world. Johnny nodded. “I really need to get a hold of this texting thing…”

“Well now that you know that it’s a landline number, you can just call her up,” Johnny said.

“Are you crazy?” Dracula incredulously, “What would I even _say_ to her?”

“Just be cool and say, ‘hey I have an amazing opportunity for you, bleh, bleh, bleh’,” Johnny mimicked.

“What did I tell about that?” Dracula scolded, wagging his finger. “I don’t say bleh, bleh, bleh anyway… only when I say I _don’t_ say it.”

“Anyways, start off with that, and see if she’ll call back?” Johnny told him, “I’m sure she’ll talk to you.”

“Okay… okay yes, I’ll do that,” he said. He soon opened his messages to Ericka, Johnny peeping at them and giggled. Dracula had turned around to see Johnny laughing. “What are you laughing at?”

“Your text messages,” he stressed as he tried to hold a laugh, “they’re all in capes.”

“Shut up!” Dracula snapped, “this tech thing is still pretty new to me, I'm not like Mavis and you…” He had pressed the call icon, the phone ringing. “it’s ringing!”

“Shhhh,” Johnny said to him so that Dracula wouldn’t say something out of context. They soon heard a tone and heard her voice.

_Hello, this is Ericka at The Flower Shop. I am currently unavailable. My office hours are flexible from Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 6 pm or later. Please leave me a message with your name and phone number and I’ll get back to you within a few hours. Have a wonderful day._

The next sound was another tone, which was the window for Dracula to say his piece. “Ahem… hello, this is Count Dracula, owner of Hotel Transylvania. I am…” he started to blank out, Johnny urging him to continue as he had gotten the first part done, “I am calling you and wanting…. wanting to summon you for an opportunity that includes your flowers. OKAYPLEASECALLMEBACKBYE!” He hung up and had hugged himself with his cape once again.

“You did it Drac,” Johnny cheered stretching his arm across and hugging the thinnest part of Drac’s body. “I knew you could do it, all you needed was a teensy push.”

“Yes yes, just a teensy push,” Dracula said through clenched teeth. He still didn't like getting hugged by Johnny

“All you need to do is wait for Ericka to call you and see what happens from there,” Johnny said with a smile. “You’ll be fine.”

“I sure hope so… because now I’m letting another human into the hotel,” Drac groaned, rubbing his face.

“You’re building connections with the town’s people Drac, and that’s a good thing,” Johnny inspired. “Mavis will be so proud of you.”

“She… she would, wouldn’t she,” Drac affirmed, a smile on his face and his posture fixed.

“I mean you already have humans coming to the hotel and staying here, so that’ll be a huge deal,” Johnny explained.

“You’re right,” Dracula said, “don’t tell Mavis.”

“Why? Aren’t you suppose, to be honest with her from now on?” Johnny asked.

“She told you?” Dracula questioned.

“She kinda told me too. I shouldn’t be hiding stuff either, that’s not good for our relationship,” Johnny admitted. “Why hide it?”

“Because… I don't want Mavis's hopes to get high if this doesn't follow through.” Dracula just wanted everything to be perfect in his world. And now that his world is being _inhabited_ by humans, it was already a stressful thing trying to keep up with today's modern way of living. But Mavis would be happy if this flower deal does come through.

“You’re right, looks like you’ll have your first business meeting soon,” Johnny squealed.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Dracula hushed. “Now go.”

Johnny sauntered off, hoping that his father-in-law would actually listen to him.


	6. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula and Ericka finally talk business.

Dracula finished his shift for that evening, having mustered up the strength to take a nice shower and clean the dirt he had caked over his body. He soon finished up and placed on his pajamas, doing his routine before he headed to bed. He opened the lid to his coffin and had laid himself to rest for the rest of the day.

His phone suddenly began to hear a faint humming sound near him.

He opened his coffin again and had looked into the pockets of his everyday outfit and pulled out his phone. He saw the flower emote appear on his screen, a dark blue background pulsating as the default profile. His tired eyes soon widened, the vampire beginning to panic as it was Ericka calling him. Dracula soon collected himself and tapped the accept call icon.

“Erm… hello?” Dracula called nervously.

“ _Hi, is this Dracula?_ ” Ericka asked.

“Y-Yes!” Dracula confirmed, his hand clenching the top of his shirt as a means to brace himself.

“ _Well hello! I just got your message about some business opportunities you mentioned?_ ” Ericka reminded.

“Yes I did,” he yawned, his eyes closing as he was tired.

“ _Oh dear, are you about to go to sleep?_ ” She asked regretfully, and then gasped, “ _Oh god I woke you out of your sleep! I’m so sorry-_ ”

“No no no, there’s no need for you to apologize,” he reassured her, “I was about to go to sleep… because I’m a vampire and all.”

“ _You sure?_ ” she asked, “ _if this isn’t the best time then maybe later… but then again - wait - I don’t know_ ,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

“It’s alright,” Dracula said. “I’m sure there will be a time.”

“ _Maybe this Friday?_ ” she suggested, “ _I’m free during that time, so whatever time is suitable then you can come down to the shop and we can talk._ ”

“Um…” Dracula had turned pale, trying to find an excuse. He didn’t want to go into her shop again, and not because he didn’t want to. He has never stepped out of his hotel for anything other than spending time with Dennis or Mavis or anything related to the hotel. “I’m not sure if that’ll be a good idea. The hotel runs during the evening throughout the late-night hours.”

“ _What if I just go to the hotel,_ ” she offered. “ _Sounds good?_ ”

“That’s …” Dracula wouldn't have to step out of the hotel to see her. He wouldn't have to explain himself to anyone of his whereabouts, “an excellent idea.”

“ _Perfect! What time would be suitable for you? I know you’re a vampire so you can’t be in the daylight_ ,” Ericka said, sounding concerned over the phone.

“Just before sunset,” Dracula told her, “the hotel won’t start until 8, so we’ll have all the time to talk.”

“ _Sounds like a plan_ ,” Ericka chirped.

“So it’s a date,” Dracula said too excitedly.

“ _Um… what_?” Ericka snapped.

Dracula had slowly realized when he said and had gasped, “I mean… a _date_ for Friday evening!” he corrected, “That’s what I mean! Not a _date_ date, no no no definitely not _that_ type of date-“

“ _Friday evening_ ,” she spoke, silencing the nonsensical vampire, “ _I’ll be there_.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he breathed. He soon heard her hang up, a tone following. He had smacked his phone on his forehead about of pure embarrassment. “‘So it a date’? What is wrong with me?”

* * *

Dracula stood outside of the hotel, his cape over his head as the sunlight was surprisingly still out despite it being the supposed ‘sunset’ hours for today. He had pouted at his phone for letting him down. He didn’t know when she would be arriving, all he knew was that she would come to the hotel in their certified hearse cars that helped monsters and humans get the establishment.

It was Friday, having the reminder set by Johnny since Dracula was too nervous to remember. He started to feel his cape burn through, ready to head back into the hotel when he soon heard the honk of the hearse driver echo through the haunted forest. He had sighed as he didn’t have to suffer any more sunburns for today.

The driver had stopped in front of the hotel, the pumpkin driver stepping out first and walking to the passenger door to open it. A pair of booted feet stepped onto the stone-floored courtyard.

There appeared Ericka the florist. She wore a light grey business suit with a white-collar shirt that popped out from the neck of her blazer. She had tipped the pumpkin driver and waved to him goodbye as he drove off. She had looked up and met eyes with the one and only Count Dracula.

They looked at each other briefly for a good minute, scanning each other carefully as if they were wary of each other.

“Not exactly sunset hours, aye Count?” Ericka joked, giggling a bit as she walked up the stairs and looked up at the covered vampire.

“It’s the weather app’s fault,” he grouched, “it’s not vampire-friendly…”

“Aww,” she teased. “well lead the way before you turn into ashes.”

Dracula had done just that, taking her through the revolving doors. Her mouth was slightly agape when she marveled at just the lobby. “This is your hotel?”

“Yes,” he said, simpering at the thought of her confident persona being bewildered by his hotel.

“This is amazing,” she said to him as she soon caught up to the vampire, “did you invest in it?”

“Invest?” he scoffed, “I had it built many years ago. I lived here ever since.”

“Amazing,” Ericka said, her eyes making their way to the wooden desk which stood in front of a large wall that held some of the room keys that were not in use.

“We can talk in our family dining hall,” he said as he waited for her to come. Ericka had nodded and followed him. They headed down a corridor with a red curtain closed to a particular area. Dracula had pulled the curtains apart to show his dining room table. Ericka chose a spot right in front of the open fireplace. She was about to pull out a chair when Dracula used his powers to do so. “Please, allow me,” he offered.

“Such a gentleman,” Ericka thanked, Dracula bowing his head and soon sat across from her. The two stared into each other’s eyes once again, smiling at each other kindly. “So I want to start off by saying thank you for reaching out to me and wanting to have my flowers sold at your hotel. It's a wonderful opportunity.“

“Of course,” Dracula said. “Since humans have become welcomed into the hotel, I’m always wanting to have human-themed objects here so they can take something with them from their trip here in Transylvania.” Dracula did receive a lot of revenue from the human guests he had in the hotel, all because Johnny pushed for it to happen since Dennis's human side was more existent during the time.

“And that’s very sweet of you that you've chosen me,” Ericka started, to which she held her knuckles, “which is why I can’t take your offer.”

“Thank you for taking the op - wait, what?” Dracula twisted.

“I’m sorry,” she regretfully uttered, “I know I sounded so excited to talk business with you on the phone but I was thinking about and well…”

Dracula raised an eyebrow. “Well, what?”

“I hope you're not offended. I _just_ opened my shop a few weeks ago, and I want to start building up revenue for it so I have enough to expand more,” Ericka explained. “I worked so hard to have my shop open here, I’ve put a lot of work in it to make it thrive-”

“So… what are you saying?” he asked, “you don’t want to have your flowers sold here?”

“It’s gonna be a hard no for me, Count. I mean I’m flattered, really I am,” she prattled. “I just wanted to build something for myself and not just be pressured into compromising my ideas or change them for someone else's comfortability,” Ericka said. “you know what I mean.”

“I actually do, as a matter of fact,” Dracula said, a faint smile on his face.

“You do?” she responded.

“This hotel was built to protect monsters and have them get away from the violence humans had inflicted on us. We were ostracized and attacked just for being monsters, so I created the hotel for me and for those like me," Dracula could think about the thanks and the praise given to him for creating the hotel. He also thought about the night his daughter zinged with Johnathan, "but when my daughter married a human and had a half-human child, we started to open our doors to humans as a means to have better relationships with them,” Dracula explained, Ericka’s eyes looking at him attentively.

“I think that’s so commendable,” she expressed, her eyes filled with wonderment , “and so brave.”

“Thank you... It's taken me time to adjust to this new world I'm living in, and I'm still getting used to it.” he expressed.

"Well it's never too late to learn from the people around you," Ericka told him, her voice a sound of hope for the unwilling Count. Dracula had smiled at her but had sighed.

“So I’m guessing you won’t be selling flowers at the hotel?” he asked.

“No,” Ericka said regrettably, “I just want to be a middle-aged woman selling flowers in Transylvania.”

“I can respect that,” Dracula smiled at her simple lifestyle.

The two had left the hotel to bid their farewells, the sun finally setting down and leaving behind the moon to take over. The hearse was soon to drive up to take Ericka home, Dracula waiting by her side.

“Ericka,” Dracula began, taking a breath, “I have to ask… why did you show mercy to my grandson the other evening?”

“What do you mean?” Ericka asked befuddled.

“When he broke the pot, you didn’t get angry at him. You didn’t make him feel wrong.” Dracula was still unable to understand her compassion that night.

“It’s not exactly something to get angry over. He didn’t mean to break it,” she said, “he’s just a kid as well.”

“But he broke something,” Dracula told her with intent elicit more information out of her.

“I would be a really messed up person to punish a child for something as small as breaking a pot,” Ericka explained, “it would be criminal.”

“Right…” he said as he rubbed his neck, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. The hearse drove up, Ericka heading her way to get in it. But she stopped, looking as if she was contemplating something. She then turned around and gave him a piece of paper. “Here.”

“What’s this?” he asked. “Is this another one of those _landline_ phones again?” he exasperated. “My son-in-law explained to me and I _still_ don’t get it.”

“No, silly,” Ericka teased, “this is my cell number. I’m more accessible here than on my shop’s phone. I just happen to be wide awake when I called you.”

“So this is your _mobile_ number, right?” Dracula wanted to make sure he knew his tech terms right.

“Yes, it is. I may not partner with you business-wise, but if you have a wedding or a big event coming up, you can shoot a text and we can talk details.”

“Um…” Dracula had her actual phone number, not a stupid landline phone he didn’t understand. He had smiled. “I’m not very good at texting, so bear with me and my texts.”

“Well luckily for you I’m as patient as a sunflower,” Ericka spoke softly to him. She had soon thought about it and giggled, “ _sometimes_.”

Dracula had chuckled. She was playful, youthful, and just looked like she lived a fun and alluring life. He always saw humans like this, but this one was different. He didn’t know why, but she was. The hearse began to drive off.

“See you soon,” he waved goodbye.

“Very soon, Count!” Ericka called back, waving her hand at him back as the hearse distanced itself from the hotel.

Dracula had looked down at her digits, smiling as he was happy. He may have not made business with a human, but he made a human friend.

* * *

He headed back to his room and began to freshen up to get ready for the evening. He had waited a good few minutes before texting Ericka:

_HELLO? ITS ME, COUNT DRACULA._

_I HOPE YOU GOT HOME SAFE._

_I HAVE WORK THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT_

_SO I MAY NOT SEE YOUR MESSAGES_

Dracula had finished preening himself up and soon was about to head out the door from his bedroom when he had received a text message. He pulled his phone out and opened it to see Ericka text:

_Just got home!_

_Thanks for today._

_It was great :)_

The vampire smiled to himself at the sight of her message. Maybe this was a good thing that this was happening. Maybe his perceptions of humans could change if he was willing to take the time to take to this one human.


	7. Texting On The Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula asks Ericka when they will see each other again, which triggers dating anxiety for the poor Count.

“Welcome to Hotel Transylvania!” the Count greeted his fellow monsters.

The guests, as usual, came pouring in. Both monsters and humans were conversing amongst one another as they were either checking in or checking out. The humans had their cameras out and taking pictures of whatever was going on as tourists do. Everything was going smoothly.

Dracula was making his rounds, greeting the monsters and chatting up with some familiar faces when one of the Suits of Armor informed him that there was a plumbing issue in one of the rooms, to which he sent a zombie janitor to fix the problem. The Count went on his way to see the hotel’s dining service, which featured human food and monster food and a somewhat ‘live’ band, but really it was zombie Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach.

_Everything seems to be going smoothly_ , he thought as he stepped back into the lobby.

Johnny sauntered downstairs. “Drac!” he called as if he was looking for him.

Dracula usually sighs in annoyance, but tonight was different.

“Jonathan, my boy!” Dracula respond back as he had a smile, “how are you?”

“I’m good, how about you?” Johnny asked, “how was that meeting with that Ericka lady? Did you get her to sell her flowers here?”

“Um… no,” Dracula lamented.

“What? Why?” Johnny asked, “did you say something about her being human?”

“No!” he said, chagrined and annoyed, “she wanted to have her shop for her own and just be to herself, that’s all there is to it.”

“Uh-huh,” Johnny said unconvinced. “You just don’t want to work with a human.”

“That’s not true!” he protested, “she’s really content with where she is at. And to be honest, I don’t mind it.”

“So that’s it?” Johnny was expecting more, “no ‘hey see you later’ or ‘we can do business in the future’?”

“She gave me her ‘mobile’ number or whatever the heaven that is, and offered her services,” Dracula told Johnny in an as-a-matter-of-factly way. “So something good did come out of it.”

“Really?!” Johnny said with excitement, “alright, Drac!” he cheered.

“Calm down before you hurt yourself,” Dracula hushed, “it’s just her personal number, nothing more, nothing less.”

“I’m really proud of you, man,” Johnny said, patting his back, “I mean, you went from being a monsters-only hotel to being _this_.” Johnny was getting teary-eyed, Dracula sighing.

“Will you stop crying?” he hushed him, “it’s not that big of a deal.”

“So now that you have her number, are you gonna be calling her often?” Johnny asked, “there _are_ upcoming events at the hotel that could use some floral pizazz.”

“I _just_ got her number, I’m not trying to look desperate.” Dracula didn’t want to bombard her with a request so soon. “I’ll just wait for her to text me.”

Johnny soon left to fulfill his duties in human relations, Dracula getting to all of the tasks that needed to be done. When he had a moment’s rest, he had tested Ericka with a simple smiley face out of pure impatience. He hoped she would receive the small message.

He had reached the 13th level of the hotel, having reached down the hall and made a left. The Count opened a window that led to the outside, having stepped out and sat on the roof. He looked up and saw the stars were out, pulling out his phone and taking photos. He found one picture that was clear and showed the stars.

Dracula sent it, hoping to get a response. He soon received a text from the woman, looking at it:

_These remind me of the time_

_I went to Iceland._

_They’re really beautiful in_

_the nite_

Dracula had smiled when she texted back. He had begun to ask her about other things like how her day was or how her weekend was. It was a Monday, so it was on-the-clock- work time for the two. He wasn’t too forward, but he did want to know what was life like for her in her shop.

He viewed the typing indicator to show she was writing something in response, a huge smile on his face:

_I’m just here watching tv_

_doin nothin_

_closed the shop right on the dot._

_no customers :(_

Dracula had pondered on a response, not wanting to sound obsessive, but wanted to engage with her and her human activities:

_WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING?_

Dracula waited for a response, seeing those dots turn his stomach:

_A nature channel_

_it's about bats_

_normal bats I mean_

_not vampire bats_

_IDK why I have to_

_clarify lol_

Dracula had chuckled at her correcting herself. It made him feel less awkward. They had texted for a good few minutes, Dracula getting immersed in the conversation that they were having. Soon after, Ericka texted _goodnight_ , as she was heading to be for the evening.

Dracula, with a frown and a pouted, texted her back:

_WHEN WILL WE BE_

_ABLE TO SEE EACH_

_OTHER AGAIN??_

Dracula bit off his nails, feeling extra nervous. _Did I come off too strong? And I being too forward?_ These questions had rung loudly in his head. He soon read her message:

_That depends_

_will it be a casual date or_

_a "_ _date” date?_

This made the Count’s skin crawl. She _did_ notice the slip-up he made when he talked to her on the phone just a few days ago. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he was now nervous to continue on with the conversation. His fingers started to type:

_WHATEVER IS COMFORTABLE_

_WITH YOU?_

Dracula didn’t like it when he was out of control of things, but everything he said hasn’t been working. He felt his phone vibrate, and looked down to see the text:

_Since I can come over_

_the hotel and see you do_

_your hotel thing._

_see how the man himself_

_runs his ship_

He had turned red at the message, his hand over his eyes out of embarrassment. Dracula had texted back:

_WHEN WILL THAT BE?_

_Tomorrow evening_

_I’ll be the lady decked_

_out in white_

Dracula chuckled at her easy-going personality:

_SO IT’S A CASUAL DATE THEN!_

_;)_

He sighed in relief in knowing that Ericka and Dracula were on the same page with each other. He had soon gotten a call from Johnny.

“Yeah? What is it?” Dracula said, getting up and walking down the wall of the hotel.

“ _One of the monsters complained about a room, something about wanting an ocean view_ ,” Johnny said, the sound of what was Mr. Hydraberg complaining, “ _I need you!_ ”

“I’ll be right there,” Dracula said as he was already at the front of the hotel and entered to see the commotion. He handled the situation with ease, Johnny looking relieved.

“Thanks, Drac, you saved me big time,” Johnny thanked, “you think with all the time I spend around monsters I would get it right-“

“Yeah yeah yeah, I need you to ask you something,” Dracula asked.

“Sure Drac, anything,” Johnny said, reassuring him. Dracula had looked around, too many monsters around for him to say what he needed to ask. So he pushed Johnny into the family dining room and looked at him.

“What would you define… _casual_?” he asked, his eyes furrowed.

“Casual? What do you mean?” Johnny asked.

“You know!” Dracula said with a flustered look on his face, “like a casual date!”

“OOOOh!” Johnny realized with wide eyes.

“So what does it mean?” Dracula asked.

“Well casual is just what you would wear when you go outside. It's not all fancy, but you don't wanna look like you woke up in your pajamas,” Johnny clarified.

“Johnny, I want you to find clothes that are _casual_ ,” he told Johnny, grabbing his shoulders and hovering over him.

“Um, okay? But Drac, just tell me what’s going on?” Johnny asked of Dracula.

“Okay,” he took a huge breath and spoke, “I think I asked Ericka out.”

“What?” Johnny said in shock, “are you serious? This is great!”

“No this is _not_ great!” Dracula protested. “This is gonna be the first date I’ve had in over a century and it’s tomorrow night. What am I gonna wear? What do I say to her when she comes?”

“Dude relax, you asked me to find clothes for you and I will,” Johnny reminded, “all I need know is your size for shoes, pants, and shirt.”

“Okay… okay.” Dracula felt some relief that he was going to have something nice to wear. He was still nervous though. Johnny would step out and get him clothes, probably something he would _imagine_ him wearing. He wouldn’t care, but he had to. The date was tomorrow, and Johnny was going to be in charge of his dressings.


	8. The Casual Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula and Ericka had a casual date amongst the premise of just being friends.

Johnny stepped out on behalf of Dracula, who trusted his son-in-law to get him the best of clothes. Being that Johnny had helped with decorations and DJ events, clothing a five-hundred-something-year-old vampire wouldn’t be that hard, right?

He headed into the stores to find Dracula some dress pants, a couple of shirts, and some ties. He couldn’t find whatever those ‘tail thingies’ were, so he opted for just ties and with a bowtie as a bonus gift. He had found a pair of white loafers with a little gold on them to bring the whole outfit together.

* * *

“No… no, no,” Dracula said as he was going through the clothes. “No, no no, these won’t work!” he complained, “forget it, I’m wearing my outfit when you and Mavis got married.”

“What!” Johnny protested, “come on, dude, you didn’t even wear them!”

“I don’t _need_ to wear them; I look like I sell meat from the back of a van,” Dracula frowned.

“Just try the outfits! And if you don’t like them I’ll return them,” Johnny said, “please?”

Dracula had sighed, “fine!” he snapped. He went into his walk-in closet, which was revealed with the turn of his wall sconce. He entered the secret room, the wall enclosing him in the closet. Johnny was in awe, in which he began to search around for secret rooms Dracula had. He found the toilet and the sink, but nothing else. Dracula came out in long white pants with his white loafers and a Hawaiian shirt design that had little tikis and snakes all. It was a purple and orange design.

“Look at you, ready to go on vacation!” Johnny teased.

“I look ridiculous,” he grouched, “I look like my dad when he’s smoking his cigars with my uncle Bernie!”

“Just give it a shot,” Johnny said as he looked at him. “I have the other clothes, but just for tonight, wear that,” he told him.

“Do I have to?" he whined, "I'm supposed to look like the Prince of Darkness, not some cigar smoker who yells 'mahjong'!" 

“Can you just try a _tiny_ bit?" Johnny gesticulated, emphasizing the word 'tiny' with his fingers.

Dracula had rubbed his face, “Fine... but I'm not wearing anything else in that bag.”

“Well just in case you change your mind- ,” the red-headed man placed the bag near the closet wall, “I’m gonna leave these here in case you change your mind.” Johnny quickly left the room. Dracula was left alone looking through the bag and see things ties, he would never catch himself wearing them. He looked at the other shirts, seeing a black button-down shirt and a burgundy red.

Johnny just wanted him to look his best.

He placed the clothing and other pants in his closet. He looked at the time on his phone and saw that it was nearing the evening. Dracula had snapped his fingers, his outfit disappearing into his every day wear for the hotel.

He had sauntered downstairs to the lobby, seeing some fellow monsters coming and going. A knight came over to him and informed him of a woman requesting him. Dracula had fixed himself, the knight leading him outside of the hotel.

There stood Ericka in a jumpsuit with a sunflower design all over. Her top was a flounce cut that showed off her shoulders and her neck. The last piece of detail she had was a sunflower that sat on the part of her hair on her right-hand side.

“Hi!” Ericka said as she smiled up at the Count, who was slightly gobsmacked. "I thought you had forgotten about me," she joked

“Erm… h-hi,” he tensed.

“You look… nice,” she said as she noticed that his attire was the same as last time, and the other evening when they had their meeting.

“T-Thank you,” he stuttered. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks,” she replied, “This was the only thing I found that had a pop of color, I'm all about solid colors." She fixed her founded top as it was tucked into the other side of her jumpsuit, "but it looks like you have a black and purple theme.”

Dracula cocked his eyebrow, and looked at his attire, “oh this wasn’t really what I intended to wear.” he snapped his fingers, his outfit from his all-black attire to the outfit Johnny pulled together for him.

Ericka jumped, her hand to her chest as she could feel her heart rate speed up. The sudden transition from his normal clothes to the ones he sported had caught her off guard.

“Wow, aren’t you a fast dresser,” Ericka chuckled. She took time to eye his outfit, which makes her smirk coyly, “and a nice one at that.”

“Why thank you,” he perked, “I hope the staff doesn't have much to do tonight, I look forward to tonight.”

“That's alright, I’m pretty light on my feet so I don’t tire easily if I need to follow you around,” she said as she had walked with him side to side. They entered the hallway, the monsters hushing themselves as they observed the two adults walk around the lobby. The Suits of Armor had all congregated around the hotel to fix any of the problems of the hotel without bothering their Count.

Dracula had taken heed of these actions, wondering why they were quick to handle it. There was always someone informing him of a minor issue that needed attention, and Dracula - being the do-it-himself type of guy - would rush to it. But tonight, they were taking on the responsibilities to leave him be.

Ericka was shown about throughout the hotel, Dracula taking her to the pool grounds where they had outside events.

“So do you guys host human events as well?” Ericka asked, “you know; weddings, graduations… birthdays?”

“We don’t have them as much, but when the humans come they usually get in on the monster events,” Dracula informed. “They’re quite popular.”

“That’s interesting,” she said, intrigued and wanting to ask more, “what’s the food like here?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Okay, so bare with me,” Ericka started, “I’ve _dabbled_ in some freaky foods that monster my consume. What do you guys serve?”

“Well that depends,” he said, side-eying her for a moment, “what’s the most outrageous thing you’ve eaten?”

“I’ve eaten a handful of things actually,” she started to count off the things she had consumed. They were not in any way, shape, or form accessible on American soil, having traveled so much, “I’ve eaten balut, silkworms, octopus... my palette is pretty much open to everything. Just as long as it's not moving too much.”

Dracula was surprised at her openness to different varieties of foods, “well we have a lot of food like that here in the hotel… along with human entrees.”

“In that case let's eat,” she said as she looked up at him. "I'm feeling peckish."

“Well, come with me.”

* * *

The two were seated right in front of each other in the family dining room, the fireplace burning in front of them and giving the room a nice and orange hue. Ericka had looked at the cutlery and plate settings and giggled to herself, “the cutlery here is unique. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Thank you,” he said looking at her. “What would you like to eat?” he asked her.

“Well I know _exactly_ what I want,” she said as she looked at the menu that appeared in front of her, “I’ll have a sirloin steak with loaded mash potatoes and a caesar salad,” she said as she had placed the menu down and smiled. “Oh, and a ginger ale.”

“Alrighty then,” he said as he had stood up and headed straight into the kitchen, a couple of gargoyles cooking food for some hotel guests that wanted room service. Dracula instructed the gargoyles to create the made-to-order meal for one of the guests and serve it. Dracula sauntered back into the dining room with her drink, Ericka inspecting the miniature battle-ax of a knife and a pitchfork for the fork utensil.

“Your food will be ready shortly,” Dracula informed, giving her her drink.

“Thank you,” Ericka said, “are you going to eat anything?”

“I will, but not right now,” he said to her, “You're my casual date tonight _and_ my guest. And my guests always come first..”

Ericka had slightly blushed, looking all around the room. She didn’t get a good look at it the last time she was here, “you must have spent a lot of time building the hotel.”

“With some staff help I was able to have the hotel up within four years,” Dracula humbly spoke. He remembered all the times he would spend with Mavis as he was working on the blueprints for the hotel. It seemed as though yesterday it all happened.

“How long has it been open?” she asked, looking at him as she sipped her ginger ale.

“It’s been open since 1898.”

Ericka had soon began to cough, the ginger ale having been swallowed wrong, “are you serious?” she said, eyes red and nose slightly leaking. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her eyes before her nose.

“Yes… I am a vampire you know,” he said, watching her clean herself up. "Do you need-"

“Nope," she said, blowing her nose to rid of any effervescence from her nose, "It’s amazing how you were able to create a place for a monster to feel comfortable with themselves,” she said, having finally come to her senses.

“Well I am very good,” he humbly bragged, Ericka chucking. They had conversed for a bit before the zombie staff came in with her meal. They had placed it in front of her, Ericka flashing a smile that one of the zombies, the undead corpse looking bashful. They dragged themselves back to the kitchen, leaving Dracula and Ericka.

Ericka had looked at her food and smiled. “This looks delicious,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you. We have a monster chef who cooks monster _and_ human dishes,” he said, “so no one will feel out of place."

Ericka began to dig in, savoring every bite. Her appetite was far from little, as she had consumed the steak with ease.

“How is the food?” he asked as he looked at her consume the food.

“My compliments to the chef,” she said, her hand over her mouth as she had a morsel in the hollow of her cheek. She swallowed it and spoke again, “I may want a dessert from your monster menu,” she told him.

“Well, what might you be interested in?” Dracula asked, “We have chocolate-covered cockroaches, red velvet cake with a scream cheese icing-”

“Both.” Her plate was finished, not a piece of food left on her plate. Dracula looked at the plate and then back at her.

_She sure has an appetite_ , he thought.

“I’ll get you those two quickly,” he said as he quickly headed into the kitchen once again. The red velvet was prepared, and the cockroaches were plated in a nice gold bowl. Dracula brought those two things out immediately, Ericka waiting patiently. He served her, Ericka digging in once again. She poked her fork into the cake, the frosting coming to life and yelling, Ericka jumping once again at the surprise. Dracula had laughed, Ericka laughing along.

After the meal, Ericka had sauntered around the hotel with Dracula, the two silent amongst each another. Dracula felt so awkward; he’d think with all the human interactions he had, he would know how to speak to one.

But no. No it wasn’t.

It was torture to walk around with this human who he was allured with, torture to not be able to converse with her. It was indeed torture.

“Why are you so tense?”

Dracula had stopped in his tracks, looking at Ericka who had her arms behind her back and eyes idly looking at him.

“Excuse me?” he asked as he started to pale.

“Why are you so tense around me?” Ericka asked as she looked at him. “This isn’t like a big date or anything, so there should be no worry.”

“Um… right…” Dracula started to twitch in his hand, Ericka noticing it and taking his hand, a thumb over the back of it. He looked down at her supple hand, eyebrows touching as he didn’t know how to respond.

"Dracula, I may look like I'm high-maintenance, but I'm not; I'm just like you," Ericka said, rubbing his hand. It was cool compared to her warm hand.

"Erm..." unless she was another single parent who had lost her spouse do another species and had lived a lonely life raising a child all while going into hiding from those same species, then there was no need for this level of nervousness from him, "how so?"

"I'm just trying to enjoy life as deliciously as possible. I'm trying new things, seeing new places... meeting new people _and_ monsters," Dracula blushed at the silkiness of her voice, "All I'm trying to say is, you are a good friend, and good friend don't let other good friends feel like they're wrong."

Dracula had a tint of red on his cheeks, his eyes looking at her blue ones. He could feel something, but he didn't know what it was... it was about to come over him-

Soon the pop melody from a phone had disrupted the two adults' gazes, Dracula looking at his phone to see no one call. Ericka pulled out her own phone. She looked at her alert and groaned. "I'm so sorry, but I have to cut this short. I need to water my shop's plants."

"Um, okay," He said, rubbing his eyes as he felt a tingle in them, "I might need to dust this place anyway, and as much as we love each other's company I don't think you'd want to spend the rest of your evening watching me clean the ceiling."

"So we're calling it a night?" Ericka queried.

"Hard yes," he said. "I’m really sorry if tonight wasn't as long as you would have hoped,” Dracula regretted. “Hotel duties, you know."

"It's fine," Ericka had looked at him with a smile, "I enjoyed tonight a lot."

"I did, too," he said, feeling slightly confident, "and since you _technically_ came over to my house, perhaps when you're ready you can invite me to yours?" Dracula said with affability, Ericka emitting a silent gasp. He had realized his forwardness, "Oh goodness, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you I-"

"It's okay!" Ericka reassured, "it was cute." Her eyes looked as if she was thinking of something, thinking of a way to flip this night for the better. “Actually... I have an idea”

“An idea?” he queried.

“Saturday night this week, you come over to my place,” she affirmed.

“Your place?” he wondered.

“Yeah. I live above my shop,” she told him, “I just have to take you through the back and up the stairs is all.”

“Oh… so Saturday it is then,” Dracula said with hopeful eyes.

“And this time no hotel duties will bother you…” Ericka cooed. She caught herself, "unless it will?"

"Nope, my daughter wants me to use my Saturdays as a means to help me unwind, and I will use them on you." Ericka turned a rosy color.

* * *

Dracula had followed Ericka outside the hotel, Ericka saying her goodbyes. “I can’t wait to see you on Saturday.”

“I can’t wait either,” Dracula vowed.

“Oh, before I forget,” Ericka had pulled out a few twenties from the seamless pocket of her jumpsuit. “I didn’t know how to go about paying for the meal, so here. Whatever change is left you can keep.”

“Oh no no, it's on the house: courtesy of Count Dracula,” he said.

“But that meal was good and of good quality; good food deserves good pay,” Ericka affirmed.

“We’re going to probably have dinner on Saturday anyways, you may need to use it for ingredients or something-” chivalry was his thing, and he didn't want Ericka to pay for this meal, or at least for this one.

“Drac, this isn’t a big deal, just take it,” she said as she gave him the money. The cab had come around to pick Ericka up, to which she was about to leave. She turned back to him and pulled him down by the opening of his shirt and gave him a long kiss on his cheek. The heat that generated off of his cheeks had caused the lipstick on her pouty lips to stain his cheek when she pulled away. “See you soon, Count.”

Dracula was stunned, watching Ericka go down the stairs and step into the car. She had looked at him, giggling as she saw her lipstick mark on his cheek. The car had driven off into the distance, Dracula standing there with a gullible look on his face.

He headed back into the hotel, his mood changing and his eyes wide. Johnny came to see if Drac was back, and when he did, he saw his inspired outfit and a kiss on his cheek. “I never knew you were a man that would kiss on the first date.”

Dracula had rubbed his cheek and saw the lipstick. It was a fuchsia color. He had smirked in his mind. “There was no kissing… but she invited me to her place on Saturday.”

“So… you got another date?” Johnny asked. “This is amazing!”

“Trying to keep it low-profile here,” he said as he turned red again. "And yes..."

“Just remember: no pressure, be a gentle-dude as always, and whatever you do, don’t be all 'bleh, bleh, bleh' on her,” Johnny prepped. "Oh, and it doesn't hurt to get her a box of chocolates!"

“You really are gonna be a pain for me through this whole thing, aren’t you,” Dracula frowned.

“Yep!”


	9. Baby Names and Pickup Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny tries to be the Prince of Darkness' wingman as he prepares for another date with Ericka; Mavis shares some names for the arrival of her second-born, Drac being the old fashion father that he is and sharing some traditional names for the baby.

The weekdays were beginning to get busy for the hotel, especially for Dracula. He was being pulled from different sides trying to get everything in order for his guests. Some events were big, others were small, and it seemed like every day Dracula was just helping guests out as they came and gone. Johnny was of great help, both with the human guests and the monster guests. He was also a huge asset to Dracula when it came to the date he was going to have Saturday evening.

Johnny and Mavis would have a date night with each other, that way Mavis was distracted.

Dracula was looking over at the tables that order their food, seeing that they were enjoying it. He was, as always, charismatic and very attentive to his guests. He was looking at the entrees, seeing the humans have steaks and mash potatoes. It was the same dish Ericka had when he came to the hotel. He remembered how much she enjoyed herself with him.

His mind wandered off to another memory when Johnny had come to him, telling him about what gifts to get Ericka.

“Huh?” Dracula slurred, his mind thinking of Ericka still. “oh, right.”

“You should get Ericka something nice, along with a box of chocolates,” Johnny advised him.

“What are we, teens?” Dracula scolded him, “I know how to get gifts for people, trust me.”

“I know, I know, but you’re going to someone else’s home, and it would be rude to come to them empty-handed,” Johnny informed.

“That you’re right about,” Dracula agreed, “I can walk into her house with nothing.”

“Good. So box of chocolates and maybe a bottle of champagne, if she even drinks champagne,” Johnny thought out loud.

“I’ll just stick to a little fancy box of chocolates,” he said, “anything else, casanova?” he teased his son-in-law.

“One more thing, when you compliment her, say a cute pick-up line,” Johnny advise once again, sounding as confident as ever.

“You really are a human, aren’t,” Dracula said, “I know how to compliment a woman, you know.”

“Just one little pick-up line, and she’ll fall head-over-heels for you,” Johnny said.

“Ugh, what is it?” Dracula asked begrudgingly.

“The line is ‘if I was in a museum, you’d be the only piece of art I would view’,” Johnny said, wheezing with excitement.

“For real?” Dracula said disappointed. “Johnny, I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay, okay, just try it,” Johnny said to him.

Dracula had sighed, heading to Mavis and Johnny’s suite to check up on the two. He needed to spend some time with his favorite little monsters.

* * *

Dennis was playing on his race car bed, his Kakie monster toy in his hand as he tried to pretend to make him fly like a bat. He soon saw the door to his bedroom open, his papa Drac standing there with a smile.

“Papa Drac!” Dennis beamed, jumping off his bed and running to his grandfather, Dracula catching him and spinning him around.

“Dennis, my curly-haired tarantula, how are you?” he asked as he had cradled him in his arms.

“I’m happy!” Dennis gleamed, his eyes looking into his.

“Oh? And why is that?” Dracula asked.

“Cebuz I’m going to be a big brother!” Dennis exclaimed.

“You know, being a big brother is a lot of responsibility,” Dracula told him, “are you sure you can handle it.”

“Yes I can, and do you know why?” Dennis said as he had floated out of his arms.

“And why?” Dracula played along to Dennis’s imagination.

“Cebuz I’m a Dracula!” Dennis declared, a blue mist surrounding him and transforming himself into a bat, his curly red hair the one thing that separated him from his family.

“And Dracula’s protect each other!” Dracula replied, his hands on his hips.

“Yeah!” Dennis began to spin all about in the room.

“Where’s your mommy?” he asked Dennis, the boy halting his flight.

“She’s in her room,” he informed her.

“Thank you, devil-dog,” he said before he headed to Mavis’ room.

He had walked through the short hallways of the suite, finding their bedroom and knocking on their door.

“ _Come in_ ,” Mavis said from behind the door. Dracula had opened the door to see Mavis in her pajamas on her bed. She looked to have so many things around her, some written names on a notepad that had the hotel's name brand.

“Deadums what are you doing?” he asked her, seeing her look perplexed.

“Oh hey dad, I’m just trying to look for baby names for when the baby comes,” Mavis told him.

“You found out the gender?” he asked with excitement, his eyes widening and blue saucers dominant.

“No no no, we’re gonna see what the gender of the baby is when they come,” Mavis said, Dracula slightly disappointed but it was their decision. “I’ve thought of some names if you’re alright with hearing them.”

“Are you kidding me?” he said incredulously, “I would love to!”

“Okay, so since Dennis was named after Johnny’s grandfather, I thought maybe we should name the baby after mom if it came out to be a girl,” Mavis said. “I think it would be a nice way to have mom close to us.”

Dracula’s undead heart ping with love. As wonderful as Mavis was for thinking of her mother with their second child, he couldn’t let her, “honey-bat, I appreciate you for doing that, but I don’t think it that will be necessary.”

“Why not?” she asked innocently.

“Because she's always here with us,” he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

"How?" Mavis asked.

"Through you," Dracula said with sweetness in his voice. "She's always there with us through you. Every day I look at you I see mommy! When you laugh, when you're doting on our little monster Denisovich, and most important when your eyes light up at the world."

“Aw daddy,” Mavis gushed. “Well, in that case, I thought of other names beside her name."

“Alrighty,” Dracula said with a smile.

“I thought of naming the baby names like Cecilia, Robyn, Laurie, Nora-“ the names sounded so human-y to Dracula, to which he frowned.

“What? No. My grandchild will not be named ‘Laurie’,” he said with a grouch, “naming a childfrom such a royal bloodline can be quite challenging.”

“Oh really, and you have better names?” Mavis teased.

“Just a few,” he said, waving his hand and put appeared an old and dusty book full of vampire names in his hand. “For girl names, we have Adrasteia, Akantha, Akeidama, Callidora, Despoina, Eva-“

“Seriously dad?” Mavis said with annoyance.

“Alright fine, no more girl names. Let's try the boy names if Dennis gets a baby brother,” Dracula started, flipping through the pages to the boys' section. “The most famous vampires were feared _because_ of their names. We have Ahriman, Apep, Asmodeus, Azazel, Brandeis - but his human can be Brandon if you want - Chernobog, Demogorgon, Diabolos-”

“Are you crazy?” Mavis protested, “I am _not_ naming my kid after the devil.”

“But kids are running around named Louie and Lucifer, it’s a good name,” Dracula whined. Mavis couldn’t help but laugh at her father’s involvement in the name of the child.

“You’re too silly, dad,” Mavis teased. “But seriously, we need to pick out names, _good_ names that sound sweet and cute but unique at the same time-“

“Yes, names like Pandora of Nosferatu,” Dracula interjected.

“Dad!-”

“Alright, alright,” Dracula had soon effortlessly floated across, shutting the door with his powers.

* * *

Dracula had retired to his chambers after a long and tiresome evening. He fantasized about the names he would call his future grandson/daughter. But his mind was soon filling up with counting black sheep. He had taken a quick shower and brushed his teeth, flossing any food he may have lodged in his pearly whites.

He sauntered into his coffin, looking at his messages, and saw Ericka’s. She sent something earlier in the evening, around 10 pm to be exact. Dracula was very busy at the start of today’s service, not being able to think about his phone.

He had opened the message:

_Preview 4 Saturday Nite_

The picture was blurred, the message saying ‘tap to view’.

When he opened the blurred picture, it revealed a grocery brand called Dine-Nite.

Dracula had rubbed the bridge of his nose in aggravation. She was going to prepare a human dish for him. Monsters didn’t eat human foods, not because they didn’t want to, but because it wasn’t familiar to them. Everything was _cooked_ and _processed_ , so monsters couldn’t enjoy the raw flavors of a cow’s heart or some out-of-this-world delicacy that humans found as touristy foods and not basic food staples for monsters.

His brain began to hurt as he was slightly fearful of tomorrow night.

Still, he had agreed to go to the date, Ericka having already purchased the ingredients it seemed. He didn’t want to disappoint. He had placed his phone down and went to sleep, closing his eyes and hoping for a nice evening with Ericka.


	10. Acts of Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula starts to feel better about his friendship with Ericka, the two being fond of each other.

Dracula had woken up around 6 pm, just as the sunset was setting. He had his clothes on a hanger, along with a pair of shoes from his own closet. He had gotten ready, fixing his hair with some gel that he had purchased some time ago - possible too many decades old. He was in pajamas still, trying to think of any loose ends he may need to do. He still had to get a box of chocolates for her.

And now that he thought about it, maybe a small bottle of champagne would finish well.

He started to get dress, having on the burgundy button-down shirt with a pair of grey pants he happened to find in the back of his closet. He placed on black dress shoes, knowing that black went well with a lot of things.

He stepped out into the hallway, Dracula looking around to make sure no one was around. He had soon turned into a bat, flying out of the hotel and into town to get the gifts for Ericka. He purchased the most expensive box of chocolates he could find and found a bottle of champagne that would surely put a dent in his wallet for sure.

He had flown with all of these things in his little talons, heading to the shophouse down the road. He flew to the ground, his blue mist turning him into his normal self. Dracula noticed the lights on the top of the shop, showing Ericka’s silhouetted figure moving things around and fixing herself.

He had fixed himself and pulled out his phone, texting her:

_I’M OUTSIDE!_

He watched her through the curtains, seeing her pick up her phone. She then went to her window, pulling the curtains apart and opening the duel doors of her window to look out and see Dracula.

“Aren’t you early,” Ericka called to him, having on what seemed to be a silk robe on her form.

Dracula blushed, “I hope that's not a bad thing?”

“No, not at all. I like it when a man is early!” Ericka joked. “I’ll be right down, just hang around in the shop for a little bit until I get ready!” She pulled herself back into the apartment, closing the windows and closing the curtain.

Dracula had entered the shop seeing the plants standing idly in their pots. He had viewed all of the plants closely, loving the fragrances they exhumed. He soon heard the clacking of shoes going down what sounded like stairs. Ericka soon appeared in a white sweater, the collar of her shirt under being a pastel yellow. She wore a pair of denim pants, the ankles cuffed that showed off her Oxford shoes.

“I’m making dinner for us, you’re gonna love it,” Ericka said as she walked around the counter. She looked at the items in his hand. “Lemme get that for you.”

Dracula had given her the champagne and the chocolate, Ericka smiling at the items. “Champagne and a box of chocolate? Who said chivalry is dead,” she said, slick.

“I hope you don’t mind it,” he said as he looked at her fancying it.

“I love me a good champagne,” she said as she took his hand. “Come.”

Dracula had followed her through the back of the shop, where there stood a short hallway. She had opened the door, a stairwell being the first thing that Ericka would see. “Watch your step,” she warned, Dracula looking down at his feet. He had looked up to see that they were halfway there, and being greeted by Ericka’s denim-ed and ample derrière sure made him blush.

“I hope you don’t mind the old-fashion home decor,” Ericka said, the keys jiggling as Ericka soon opened the door. Dracula looked inside and saw what she meant. The home was indeed _old-fashion_ ; traditional was more like it. The Transylvanian homes that were here were all that he could remember when he was raising Mavis. It was warm, familiar, _cozy_ even.

“It feels like home,” Dracula said out loud, Ericka turning her head around and blushing a bit. Dracula had felt her pair of blues looking at him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud-“

“No no no. I feel the same way… in Amsterdam I mean,” Ericka clarified. “Make yourself at ho- comfortable!”

Dracula chuckled, looking around and being greeted with very old furniture. There was a loveseat, a single chair, and a couch of the same style. The rub was a dark red color with particular accents.

“Your home is beautiful,” he told her.

“ _Thank you_ ,” Ericka said from the kitchen, some commotion in the kitchen as she was still working on the food. “ _I haven’t had anyone come here since I’ve moved here, so I usually have the place somewhat of a mess, but I promise you I’m not a slob_.”

“No no no, that’s alright,” he said as he stood up and familiarized himself with some of Ericka’s pictures from her youth. He noticed that there were only three. One photo looked very aged as if it was taken on an old victorian camera. She had short but somewhat curly hair and a dress on with little dress shoes. The second one was her in her teen years. She wore a ballerina outfit positioned in a finishing stance, a feathered headband on her head.

“I didn’t know you did ballet,” Dracula said from the living room.

“ _Well you know, did that for a while until I got bored_ ,” she said. “ _Food is almost done by the way_.”

“Okay,” he said. The last photo was her in a chair, her body positioned like it was a school photo. Her hair was long, small waves forming at the tips. She looked as if she didn’t want to be there. _Must have been a long day_ , he thought of when he saw her.

“Alright! Dinner’s ready!” Ericka said as she had finished in the kitchen.

* * *

Ericka and Dracula sat across each other at a dark wooden table with a candle in the middle, two glasses of champagne, and the box of chocolates in the fridge to frost up. The food that was presented to Dracula was grilled octopus with lemon and oregano.

“I hope you like,” Ericka said, “I didn’t know exactly what you like to eat, so I found something simple but still craved for monsters.”

“This is actually nice,” he said to her as he smiled at her. He stuck his fork in the octopus and bit into it. He hummed at the taste. “And it _tastes_ nice.”

“Thank you,” she said with a sigh, “oh, also I didn’t know what you would drink, so I had purchased some pig blood from a butcher.”

Dracula had nearly choked on his food, coughing. “P-Pig’s blood,” he strained.

“Yeah, I mean you’re not feeding off of humans, so I assumed animal blood was a better substitute,” Ericka thought logically. “I hope that’s alright.”

“Um…” Dracula had turned red a bit. “Um… you see, I’ve been on sobriety for a _very_ long time.”

Ericka had gasped, “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” she said, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think you still ate humans and-“

“No no no it’s my fault, I should I said something,” Dracula said. “I drink substitutes like Near-Blood and Blood-Beaters. Human blood is fatty and you never know when it’s been.”

“And what about animal blood?” Ericka asked.

“It’s wasteful; you’d have to eat a few dozen animals to get a fill, and even then you’d never be satisfied,” she said.

“Well there goes my $20,” she said, chuckling a bit. “I’ll take that into consideration next time.”

He had smiled at her, eating his food. He had soon heard the sounds of scratching from another door, looking around for the sound. “What’s that?”

“Wait right here,” Ericka said as she got up from the tabled and head to the door. Dracula heard her speak to someone from behind the door to which he stood and went to Ericka, who closed the door.

“Who’s that?” Dracula asked, the florist standing at the door. He looked down to see a white paw pat aggressively on the floor of her home. He had gasped at the sight.

“ _That_ would be my cat,” Ericka said. The meows started to come, now two paws coming to grip the floor.

“Well let me see it,” Dracula said.

“Yeah this cat doesn’t like men, _at all_ ,” Ericka said, opening the door slightly. She would have assumed that the cat would have run off and hidden somewhere. But when Ericka opened the door, a large and fairly fluffy cat sitting posh and gracefully, its tail in front of it as well. Its blue eyes looked up at the vampire.

“What a magnificent creature?” he said as he had crouched in front of it.

“Okay, so long story short, her last owner was very abusive and-“ the feline had walked its way towards Dracula rubbing its head against the pant of his leg, purring.

“Who could ever hurt such a beautiful thing,” he said as he had scratched the base of its tail, The cat raising its rump.

“I’ve never seen her like this,” Ericka said, dumbfounded and amazed. “She’s been so fearful of men for so long.”

“Let her join us,” Dracula said, standing up and heading back to the table. Ericka had given the feline a small bowl of wet food. “What is her name? And what breed is she?”

“She’s a Maine Coon,” Ericka said as she had pat feline who feasted on her food.

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“Oh… um,” Ericka started to fiddle with her words, “you’ll think it’s ironic…”

“Come on, try me,” Dracula urged her, “is it obvious? Ms. Whiskers? Snow White? Catrina?”

“It’s Countess,” Ericka said quickly.

“Wait a minute, you named your cat after Countess?” Dracula questioned.

“She already had the name when I rescued her so I just stuck with it,” Ericka said. “She’s been with me longer than I’ve known you,” she justified.

He didn’t know why, but Johnny’s words rang in his ear, something about a pick-up line. Dracula didn’t know if it would work but he would try, “it’s as if we were meant for each other.”

Ericka’s mouth was agape, her eyes looking at his like all those times before. Dracula had looked back down at hers, looking at her with tender eyes. She felt his hand grip hers softly, looking at it and feeling hers hold his back. They stared at each other for a moment before Dracula felt Countess creating figure eights around his ankles.

Ericka pulled her hand away from his, feeling a warmth surge through the pit of her stomach. “You should probably finish your food, I don’t want it to get cold,” she said with a smile.

“Right, right,” he said.

* * *

After Dracula and Ericka finished dinner they moved to the couch, where Ericka was cozied up on her back and her feet resting on Dracula’s thighs. They both talked throughout the evening, laughing and sharing a few stories amongst one another.

Countess had joined in on the conversation, climbing up the couch and sitting on Ericka’s chest. Ericka would pat her and play with her fur all while taking to the Count. He would hold her ankles, a thumb involuntarily rubbing the top of her foot as she talked.

They were in tune with each other.

Ericka, over the course of the evening, started to become sleepy. She looked at the time, being 12 a.m. “As much as I loved your company tonight, I have to go to sleep. I’m so tired…”

“The perks of being friends with a human,” Dracula joked, the woman laughing. Ericka had stood up, stretching her limbs, a few bones popping from her back.

“I’m gonna get ready for bed,” she confirmed, “I’ll wash whatever is there tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” he said as he looked at her walk into a room, assuming it was her bedroom. Dracula got up and walked into the kitchen. He had started to wash the dishes for her, his hands in the water to clean the oil that seeped into the pans. He may have had hotel staff cook for him and his guests, but he was far from lazy.

Ericka had stepped out in a white silk pajama set with a long white robe that matched will with it, the accents gold and shimmering. She heard the running of the tap from her kitchen and walked in with caution.

He was just placing the pots on the hooks that hung in her kitchen when he heard her footsteps come into the kitchen. “I thought since you cooked dinner for me, I might clean your dishes for you as well.”

“You _really_ didn’t have to,” she urged him. He was very much a gentleman.

“I know, but I wanted to do too,” he said as he had dried his hands.

“I can see you out if you would feel comfortable,” Ericka said, looking at him.

“No, no, no, you’ve done enough,” Dracula protested. “You need your sleep.”

“Let me just see you out the door at least,” she offered. She didn’t want to see him leave just like that.

“Oh alright.”

* * *

Dracula had stepped out of the shop, Ericka in slippers as she saw him out. “See you soon?” she asked as she looked hopeful.

“Yes,” he said looking at her with a smile, “I’ll text you when I get home.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she said. He took her hands and brought them to his lips, leaving a soft kiss on her knuckles. “You’re a very suave gentleman for someone who just wants to be friends, you know that right?”

“I mean…” Dracula started to get nervous, “if you’re not comfortable I-“

Ericka had pressed a finger over his rambling lips, pulling it away and looking up at him. “I already told you… you don’t need to be nervous with me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling a sense of embarrassment, “making _human_ friends is weird. I’ve always been with my kind - monster kind, I mean - so being friends with humans is new for me.”

“That’s why you’ve been so awkward with me?” she said, eyes widening but showed a sense of relief in her eyes. She had to laugh for a moment, seeing how sweet and innocent the vampire made this moment all the more tender, “oh sweetheart-”

She had pulled him down for a hug, her arms around his neck. Dracula had hesitantly wrapped his arms around her small frame. When he lost his sense of doubt, he had fully embraced her body, his face against her slender neck. She smelled of the flowers she had been tending to as a florist.

“Despite us being different species-wise, we do have one thing in common,” she said, her hand on his back to soothe the creature.

“And what is that?” he said against her neck, Ericka’s skin getting goosebumps.

She pulled away and looked at him with such tender blue eyes. “We’re fond of each other…” she said, her hand reaching to touch his cheek. She looked at every detail in his face, seeing the slight crow's feet on the outer corners of his eyes to the faintest freckles on his cheekbones.

“We are…” he said. He had soon felt his phone vibrate against him, groaning as he pulled his phone out. He viewed the text message:

_Hey, it’s me, Johnny._

_R U back yet?_

Dracula had sighed. “I have to go… my son-in-law is texting me if I’m back yet.”

“It’s okay, I can’t have you stay over. Your family needs you,” she said. “Text me when you get home.”

“I will,” he said. He stepped out of the shop, soon turning into a bat and flying off.

* * *

Dracula returned, the hotel quiet and some staff greeting him. He had headed to his chambers, where he texted Johnny that he was back in his room. Johnny sent him a long paragraph about how good his date night with Mavis was, Dracula getting tired through half of the paragraph. Dracula had changed into his regular wear when he texted Ericka:

_I’m home._

_Thank you for dinner._

_It was delicious._

He had found out on his own that he could write in lowercase letters. He thought of all the times that he looked at the text. He saw Ericka typing, waiting for what she would say:

_Thank goodness._

_Tonite was wonderful._

_I hope to see you again._

Dracula smile when he saw the concern through her text messages:

_Oh, we will._

_You should get rest._

_This is technically midday for me_

_so I’ll be up all night while you sleep._

_Goodnight <3.And tell Countess_

_goodnight baby_

He had gotten up to charge his phone, heading out to check up on his family and see what they were up to. Dracula was enjoying seeing Ericka, feeling as if he deserved to enjoy himself. And he was going to enjoy himself more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ericka is a cat lady. The people of the Hotel T fandom have spoken!


	11. The Baby Shower: Part I: Red or Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula's close family friends celebrate Mavis and her soon-to-be child at her baby shower; Dracula and Ericka's friendship becomes a breakthrough for the Count.

_Two Months Later_

The lobby was paved with red and black ribbons that hug all around the lobby of the hotel, an indication that there was a baby shower happening. Black vines stuck themselves onto the walls of the lobby as decoration. The zombies had placed vases on the coffee tables with red and black roses in them, a shimmery gold ribbon around the neck. The staff was getting catering done, moving it to the ballroom, where they had the tables for a larger dinner being set.

Meanwhile, Mavis was in her living room with some female monsters. There was Kelsey: a grotesque-looking monster and Clarabelle: a frog-looking monster with long legs. Her relatives that came were Wanda, Eunice, and Crystal the Invisible Woman: the newest addition to the lady pack of the monsters. Mavis was heavily pregnant now, her belly extending farther than before.

“Open mine first!” Eunice blustered in excitement, “you’re gonna love it!” she passed her a medium-sized box with a red bow.

“Thank you, Auntie Eunice,” Mavis said with excitement, taking the box and opening it to reveal different baby onesies, some with skirts and some with pant legs. They were all aimed at the arrival of a baby girl.

“Well? What do you think?” Eunice said with excitement. “I thought since baby girl Dracula might be coming soon, she needs to look stylish as always!”

“Thank you, Auntie Eunice, they're so... lovely,” Mavis said with a forced face, her aunt wanting a girl for Mavis to have. “Erm, who's next?”

“Can I go next?” Crystal volunteered, her invisible glasses looking worrisome, “I know I’m technically new to the group, so I didn’t know what I should bring.”

“Well whatever you have will be worth it,” Mavis reassured her.

“I know that you and Johnny are wanting to find out the baby’s gender on arrival, so I just went and got a gift certificate for baby items.” She then pulled out a card from her purse, the card appearing as if it was floating. “Congratulations, by the way.”

“Oh thank you so much, Crystal,” Mavis said with sincerity, Eunice rolling her eyes, “this is so sweet of you to do.”

“Who's next?” Eunice chipped in, slightly annoyed but wanting to know what other gifts other people had.

“I will!” Wanda said, her belly large and made way for by the women, “now don’t be upset with me, but I couldn’t find any clothes with all the kids running around and everything. So I had found our old baby carriage when the boys were little.”

“Oh that’s wonderful you guys, really,” Mavis said. “Okay, enough presents, let’s play some games now!”

* * *

Johnny and the rest of the pack were at the hotel’s bar, being served some drinks as they were having their own baby shower. Johnny had received some cool gifts for the arrival of the baby. He received shirts like ‘daddy’s little terror’ and some little jersey shirts and sneakers.

“Thanks, you guys, you’re so cool!” Johnny said as he eyed the little shoes with fondness.

“So whatcha been up to?” Frank asked, drinking a blue martini that glowed brightly. The others had simple drinks.

“Oh you know, just helping the humans out at the hotel and junk,” Johnny said.

“How’s Drac doing with the arrival of his new grandchild?” Wayne asked, “it must be nice to only have a few kids running around,” Wayne slightly grovel, remembering the times before the arrival of his rambunctious children and Winnie.

“Oh, he’s just super excited. He already has names picked out and everything,” Johnny said, the guys laughing a bit. Drac was definitely wanting to have a baby that looked like Mavis or him.

“In speaking of Drac, I found a pretty hot monster girl for a blind date,” Griffin said, “she has snakes for hair, and let’s say you don’t wanna look into her eyes.”

“Oh boy, let’s not go for her,” Murray said, “we don’t want Drac to turn into a statue.”

“You guys don’t need to do all of that,” Johnny said.

“Why? The online dating thing didn’t work out?” Frank asked.

“I guess you can say that...” Johnny said.

"What are you saying?" Wayne said, "Mr. Tight-Coffin found someone?"

"Yes and no," Johnny told them.

“WHAT?!” the monsters exclaimed in disbelief.

* * *

Dracula was outside of the hotel, waiting for a certain someone to come to him. He was in his cape and his usual hotel suit. He had his hand in his phone as he was expecting the hearse to come from the fog beyond the hotel. His eyes reviewed the text messages, hoping that the hearse would come.

Just as Dracula began to worry, the hearse’s light had brightened through the fog, coming through the gates. His face brightened up as his worries disappeared.

The passenger’s door opened, revealing Ericka in a black pantsuit and short black boots with a red button-down shirt, a gold collar brooch that had two spiders for clips. “Hey, Drac!” she called as she sported a dark shade of red on her lips, her eyeshadow black and complimenting her blue eyes.

Dracula had smirked at her choice of color, stepping down the steps and taking her hands. “Did I ever tell you how _sublime_ you look tonight?” he said, playing moving her hands around as the woman had smirked at him.

“Yeah, about thirteen times _tonight_ ,” Ericka said, Dracula laughing with a wheeze. “Are you on some monster equivalent of alcohol that I should know about?”

“Absolutely not,” Dracula said, pulling away but still holding her hands in his. “Your flowers are beautiful, the staff loves them all.”

“They do?” she said, eyes filled with glee. “Yay!” she bounced on her heels, her jewelry jiggling a bit as she was excited. Dracula had chuckled at her gleefulness. He and Ericka have grown since they've met. They've spent time with one another, checking up on each other when they couldn't. He didn't want to admit it, but this was such a breakthrough for him. His dislike for humans was not as strong as it was before, but he tolerated them just a tad bit more. And it was all because of Ericka.

“Do you have the bouquet?” he asked her.

“Is the sky blue?” Ericka joked, “of course I do.”

“Wonderful,” he said as he had gone to the back of the hearse, opening the back door to see a large bouquet of orange colored flowers. “What beautiful foliage is this called?” Dracula said, holding up the head of a flower and smelling it. Ericka giggled at him.

“Not foliage, floribunda,” Ericka corrected sweetly. “They’re called marinas, and they’re actuallya hybrid of two other flowers.”

“Incredible,” he marveled. “It has such a lovely fragrance.”

“Thank you,” Ericka said as she had grabbed the bouquet and carried it out. Dracula had a hand on her back, aiding her up the stairs. They entered the lobby, Ericka amazed at the decorations for the hotel. “Is this how monster baby showers are?”

“Some vary depending on different monsters, but for our family’s baby shower, red was for girls and black was for boys,” Dracula explained.

“Well pink and blue are good colors,” Ericka said, “but if you wanted a neutral baby shadow you could have done colors like yellow or purple.”

“And that is why I stick to monster stuff,” Dracula murmured, “humans have such a weird way of celebrating a child that has yet to come to the world. They have these things called gender reveals. It would be too much for me.”

“Hey not _all_ gender real parties are bad,” Ericka chuckled. “My flowers have been featured for some cute baby showers in the area,” she said.

“I’m sure they have, but I just wanted a simple baby shower for my little sugar skull and her little monster,” he said as he smiled.

“And it shows,” she said, referring to the decorum of the lobby. “So should I give these flowers to your daughter?”

“Oh no no no, you’ve done quite enough tonight, you just head down to the bar and get settled with a drink. We have _much_ to celebrate tonight,” he said to her, Ericka batting her lashes at him.

“I’ll be waiting,” she spoke sultry, grabbing his cape slowly walking away, the fabric slipping between her fingers as she walked away, hips swaying side to side.

He loved watching her leave, seeing her hourglass form sway into a hallway. He hummed at her sight but zipped off to Mavis.

* * *

Dracula knocked on Mavis's suite door, waiting for an answer. He looked at the flowers, fixing them to make them look full. When the door opened, Eunice was there, looking at the Count, "sorry, this is a _private_ event," Eunice said in her nasally.

"If that's the case, then why are _you_ here?" Dracula jeered, Eunice gasping and crossing her arms. "Where's my daughter?"

"Here playing baby shower games, _human_ baby shower games," Eunice said, looking at Mavis who had a large tub of pacifiers, a rendition of bobbing for apples. Dracula had rubbed his forehead and entered.

"Mavy-Wavy, look at what I have for you!" Dracula called for his daughter, showing the flowers to her.

Mavis looked at the bouquet and smile. "Holy rabies, dad!" despite the extra weight due to the baby, Mavis had sped to her father, looking at the flowers and marveled at them. "They're beautiful!"

"Freshly cut," he said as Mavis had placed them in a vase, the flowers looking so lively. 

"They're very beautiful," Wanda said, "the boys would have certainly used them as a toilet."

"What are they called?" Mavis asked her father.

"They're called Marinas: Ericka said that they're a floribunda to some sort," Dracula explained.

"And who is Ericka?" Eunice prodded. Dracula had caught himself.

"Well, they're the florist that sold them to me. In fact, they're the ones whose flowers been featured for tonight's events," Dracula said with pride.

"A monster florist? Never heard of one," Wanda said, rubbing her neck slightly. "Well, their flowers are nice, absolutely wonderful." Dracula had discreetly simpered at the fact that none of them knew of his friendship with Ericka, which was perfect since he was 

"You ladies enjoy your baby shower while I go and meet up with the boys, where might I find them?" Dracula asked.

"Somewhere doing guy stuff. When you find them tell Frank not to overdo it with the food this time? I don't wanna take him up to the hotel room piece by piece," Eunice informed, not wanting to spend the whole night lugging Frank's body parts up to the hotel room because he couldn't get himself together, _literally_.

"Yes, yes of course," Dracula said, "you all have a wonderful evening."

Dracula bid them farewell, soon leaving and heading to the bar. He was finally going to relax with his good friend Ericka.


	12. The Baby Shower: Part II: Bar Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dracula is prompted with a question about the seriousness of his and Ericka's friendship after his friend point out the dating behaviors the two exhibit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so proud of myself for the way this chapter turned out. I hope you enjoy it. And don't be afraid to ask questions or comment.

“Okay, so lemme get this straight,” Griffin started, his frames furrowed, “Dracula _managed_ to get a date with someone? And he didn’t tell us?”

“No!” Johnny said frustrated, “why aren't you guys listening to me!”

“I’m sorry, Johnny it’s just-” Frank was at a loss for words, but for a good reason, “we’ve set him up with so many monster girls, and well… none of them really caught Drac’s eyes. He’s super picky with stuff like this.”

“I mean you should have seen how he was with Ginger, Frank’s right arm’s cousin,” Murray said, “I say she was too woman for him.”

“Well, they're very exclusive, like _super_ exclusive. He’s _so_ into her it’s weird,” Johnny clarified. “But Dracula said that they’re just friends, so you know.”

“But Drac is a _Dracula_ and a _Dracula_ can’t just be friends with a monster,” Wayne said, remembering his words when Dennis and Dracula were talking in the car about Winnie.

“I’m sorry, Johnny but I’m gonna need to see some proof of this monster that’s captivated Drac’s attention,” Griffin asked.

“Same, I mean Drac is a pretty good guy, but this person needs to be all about Drac -” Murray said, the monster of a creation cutting in.

“But most importantly, they need to know that the most important person in the world to Drac is his daughter Mavis.”

“Besides, is she a good looking monster? Is she a gargoyle?” Griffin asked.

“A witch?” Murray asked, “maybe another mummy?”

“Or another vampire?” Wayne asked.

They all bombarded Johnny with questions about the appearance of Dracula’s mystery woman, but Johnny kept a tight lip, not wanting to say too much.

“Nuh-uh, I’ve said too much already,” Johnny said, his arms crossed and his nose raised, “when Dracula is ready to spill the beans about it, he will, but until, you gotta promise not to let him know that you guys know.”

“We promise,” they all said.

“Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go and take a tinkle,” Johnny said as he left the scene and into the bathroom.

And just as Johnny exited, the sounds of the boots made their way to the bar, Ericka sauntering to the bar and calling for a gargoyle to serve her a drink, another with a Bloody Mary, but with blood-beater. She had removed her blazer top, her red shirt actually being a halter top button-down shirt. She had received the drinks and texted Dracula his:

_Got you your Bloody Mary_

_Without Mary’s blood ofc_

Ericka had placed her phone down and had waited. All of Drac’s pack looked at the woman, unaware of who she was.

“Who is that?” Murray said, his eyes dazed with desire for the human.

“I may have been in a relationship, but I am not afraid to say that she is hot,” Griffin said.

“She’s definitely easy on the eyes,” Wayne said, “you didn’t see a lot of humans look like that in the day.”

“Hey, hey, hey don’t ogle at her, she’s still a lady,” Frank said. “But seriously though, you think she’s single?”

“Woah, woah, Woah, you’re stepping out on Eunice?” Wayne asked.

“It’s about time,” Griffin mumbled, Wayne nudging the invisible man, “hey!”

“What? No way!” Frank said. “But what if we set Drac up with her.”

“Set Count Dracula with a human?” Griffin said in disbelief. “Yeah, he'd run for the hills and into his coffin.” all of the pack except Frank laughed at his suggestion.

“He'd be better off with an imp or a gargoyle, but with a human?” Murray was getting his royals jewels off with Frank’s idea. “That’s funny.”

“Let’s face it, Drac will _never_ date a human, let alone be friend’s with one,” Griffin said with such confidence, Frank becoming doubtful, “Hell, he doesn’t even like Johnny and he’s been in the picture for over five years,” Griffin said.

“Still, it couldn’t hurt to just try,” Frank said, “I mean, maybe he needs to go… _off-the-grid_.”

“Drac is ready to be in a committed relationship, but I don’t think he’s desperate enough to be in a relationship with a human,” Wayne said.

“Then again… there’s always hooking up,” Griffin said, Frank gasping, “just the good ol’ wham bam thank you, ma’am.”

“Booty call,” Murray added.

“A simple hit-it-and-quit-it,” Wayne finalized

“No way, Drac would never do anything like that. He’s too much of a romantic to do such a thing,” Frank denied, “when he’s in love, he’s _in love_.”

“Still, he can just be one of those guys that would just hook up with anyone… but then again he would be picky still,” Griffin frowned.

Finally, Johnny had come out of the bathroom and back into the guys at the booth where they sat. “Sup guys, what did I miss?”

“Nothing, just thinking about how Drac is picky as hell,” Griffin said.

Dracula had finally come down into the bar, the guys cowering to not be noticed as they still wanted to take a view of the human. Thankful they weren’t noticed. He went straight to Ericka, scooting himself closer to Ericka.

“Um… what just happened?” Murray said.

“You’ll see,” Johnny said, getting up and walking up to the pair. “Hey, you guys!”

“Hey, Johnny!” Ericka said, turning around and hugging the red-headed man, Johnny hugging her back.

“How are you two business peeps doin’?” Johnny asked the two.

“We’re great. Seems as though everyone loves my flowers!” Ericka said.

“And we’re just here to commemorate my daughter’s baby shower,” Dracula said, Ericka smiling at him, “ _and_ Ericka’s flowers being present for the event.”

She laughed with bashfulness, her cheeks flushed a bit. “Stop it, you’re making me blush,” she said, her fingers on her round cheeks.

“Oh like you don’t love it when I compliment you,” he cooed playfully, the florist chuckling and pushing his chest away, the vampire laughing.

Drac’s pack watched as the two were joking around with each other, making the connection finally. They all left the booth in a hurry, needing to ask questions. They approached Dracula, saying hello to the two in a totally not-so-awkward way.

“Evening fellas!” Dracula said cheerfully, “how are you all doing?”

“W-We’re doing great,” Frank said, “uh, in speaking of great, who is this?”

“Oh,” Dracula had fixed himself and cleared his throat, “Frank, Griffin, Murray, Wayne: this is Ericka,” he said with confidence, “she’s my date for this evening.”

“Hi,” she said as she stuck her hand out, the monster shaking her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you all, I’ve heard so much about you guys.”

“Oh that’s interesting because we’ve hadn’t heard _anything_ about you,” Griffin said, Wayne smacking him upside his invisible head, “hey! You all are too scared to ask-“ Wayne was able to muffle him to quiet him down.

Dracula had frowned a bit, Ericka rubbing his shoulder to comfort him. “We’ve just been each other’s space is all,” she admitted, “you know, just _chilling_.”

“That’s just wonderful,” Frank said, “D-Drac can you just come with us for a moment?” Frank didn’t wait for an answer, the creation plucking the vampire away from her and headed out the lobby.

They dragged Dracula to the lobby, the guys looking at him with big eyes - all except for Griffin. As soon as he could, Dracula pushed himself away from the group, “okay, why are you guys acting so weird?”

“You’re dating a human?” Wayne said, sounding disbelief. “This is not like you.”

“We’re not dating, we’re just friends who are just seeing each other,” Dracula corrected, “what’s the problem?”

“What pair of _friends_ go out on dates,” Griffin said, “seriously though, there has to be more to this.”

“Well there isn’t,” Dracula said, turning his back to them and crossing their arms. “It’s totally innocent.”

“I mean, how did this even happen?” Frank said with befuddlement, “the last time we saw you, you said that you were too busy with the hotel and that you had Mavis and Dennis and everything, and here you are cozied up with a human florist.”

“Hey, hey, hey it’s call balance, you ever heard of it?” Dracula said, his arms crossed as he looked at them. “There’s nothing wrong with this.”

“What’s so special about her though?” Wayne asked, “what is it about her that made you actually makes you _stomach_ her.”

“Oh where do I begin?” he started, his eyes dazed a bit. "She’s funny, she’s attentive, she’s confident, and lastly she’s absolutely beautiful and graceful. And I’m always learning something new about her.”

“It’s just… you used to rag so much on humans and how they disgust you still,” Frank stated.

“And they _still_ disgust me,” Dracula defended, fists on his hips, “but this one is _different_?”

“I gotta say it, Drac, this is kinda hypocritical of you,” Wayne said.

“Hypocritical?” Dracula said with shock, “how?”

“Johnny has been part of you and Mavis’ life for nearly six years, and you still treat him like the village idiot in the hotel; from being the hotel's human assistant thingie to him being a husband to Mavis,” Wayne argued.

“N-No I don’t,” Dracula said, “every father always hates the first boyfriend his little girl brings home.”

“But when that boyfriend turns into a husband and has a _second_ child arriving soon, you don’t get to pull the dad card anymore,” Frank said. “Can’t you just lighten up on him a little bit?”

“No. I will not!” Dracula affirmed, “Johnny is always trying to add new things to the hotel, and it’s just too overwhelming for me. I’m not Mavis or Dennis; I can’t just take up a _trend_ or whatever stupid human rituals happen. It’s not for an old bat like me.”

“Then maybe you should tell Johnny that instead of being dismissive towards him,” Murray said, “it's not fair to him or you.”

“Listen, I don’t wanna talk about Johnny anymore… let’s talk about Ericka,” Dracula said. “She and I have been seeing each other exclusively-“

“Dating,” Griffin confirmed.

“We casual dinner dates at each other’s homes now and then when we have time-“

“Dating,” Frank agreed with Griffin.

“And lastly we’ve text each other on the phone whenever we are awake,” he said, eyes dazed.

“Drac… you two are _so_ dating,” Murray said.

“For the last time, we are not dating!” Dracula said, his hands on his foreheads.

“At least ask her the question,” Griffin urged.

“What question?” Dracula asked.

“You know, the magical question: what are we?” Griffin said.

“Well, then I will,” Dracula answered with a confident tone. “And by the way, it is perfectly normal for two adults to have a platonic friendship.”

“Yeah, next thing you know you’re planting _your_ seed in _her_ flower pot,” Griffin joked, the pack gasping at the explicitness of the joke.

“Really?” Dracula said in aggravation.

“Anyway, we’re just really so happy you’ve found happiness,” Frank said.

“Yeah, all joking aside, she’s one lucky woman,” Griffin agreed.

“You’re gonna make an honest woman out of her!” Murray said.

“Thanks, you guys, I really appreciate it,” Dracula said, “can you just keep this in the circle? I don’t want to tell Mavis yet about Ericka and me.”

“Oh you guys are _dating-_ dating,” Griffin said.

“ _FOR THE LAST TIME_ ,” Dracula roared, his aura red and his fangs out, “ _WE ARE NOT DATING_!"

* * *

After the guys collected themselves, Dracula had sauntered down back to the bar, seeing a lonely Ericka at the bar. “Hey,” he said.

Ericka turned around to see Drac, “oh hey,” she said with a smile, “I kept your drink cool,” showed him.

“Thanks…” he said, a faint smile on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as got off the barstool and looked up at him.

“Um… well,” now that Griffin mentioned it, that question was now both alluring and frightening. It made him feel like they could explore something together, but at the same time, he was fearful of the outcome. Still, he wanted to know. He _needed_ to know.

“You can tell me,” she said, taking his hand, Dracula squeezing it back.

“I want to ask you something… I just don’t know how to go about it,” he paced, eyes looking away from hers.

“Tell me,” she encouraged, “just rip it off like a bandaid!”

“Alright,” he said clearing this throat and breathing in and out of her, “What are we?” he said in a whispered lowly, hoping she didn’t hear him.

“What did you ask me?” she asked, his voice too soft.

“What… are we?” Dracula asked again, taking her hands and rubbing them.

A silent pause stood between the two, the concoctions at the bar the only sounds that cut into the deaf surroundings. Ericka had looked up at him, her eyes looking at him sweetly. “Drac… I’m flattered, I am but -“

“I understand,” Dracula sighed, “you only see me as a friend…”

Ericka had blushed, “it’s not you, it’s me,” she spoke with sincerity, “I’ve mentioned before that I like my own space and I usually like being alone. But there is something I haven’t told you about me.”

“Well, whatever it is, I can take it,” Dracula said, “if you’re patient like a sunflower, then so am I.”

Ericka chuckled at the way his mind processed everything. It was innocent at times, but Ericka needed to be straight with him, “Drac… there are a _lot_ of things you don’t know about me, I mean… _a lot_ of things that I want to put in words but…” Ericka started to get nervous, her arms going around herself and turning herself away from him.

“And whatever they are, you decide when you tell me, and when you do I’ll be right here,” he said, turning her around and having her face him.

Ericka had her hands in his hand, their fingers intertwined, Dracula squeezing her to reassure her. “Our friendship means the _world_ to me… and I don’t know what I would do if things didn’t work out-”

“You can _never_ lose me,” hands gripping her, securing her and letting her worries go away, “besides, that’s what _good_ friends are for,” he smiled at her warmly.

“Right,” she said. With Ericka slightly distracted, he leaned in to kiss Ericka on her cheek, feeling her lips curl into a simper of a smile.

“Let’s get you home,” he said to her, taking her hand and leading her away.

He had called a cab for Ericka, the two embracing each other for the longest and not wanting to let go of one another. Their conversation made them feel as if they wanted to say more than what was stated. Ericka handed him some business cards for the monsters to have in case they wanted to buy from her shop. They soon parted for the night, Dracula watching the hearse drive her off to the town.

He returned to the hotel, being greeted by his daughter once again. She looked so thrilled and so happy with her gifts and how the baby shower went. He was happy that his child was happy. The guys had said goodnight to the Count, all while maintaining the secret of his new adventure with Ericka.


	13. The ‘Aftermath’ Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ericka affirms Dracula despite their conversation; Drac's friends have their theories as to why Ericka isn't swooned by Dracula.

A few days passed, the hotel staff cleaning up the ribbons and the flowers being taken as souvenirs by his friends. Dracula had secretly kept a flower from all of the bouquets that were displayed for that evening. He would place them in a heavy book and press them, and when they were flattened he would frame them up.

It was the evening time, his clothes on as he was about to meet and greet guests as usual. He had taken time to gaze at the flowers As he looked at them, he started to feel a bit somber. That question he asked Ericka was a definite sign that she just wanted to remain as friends. Nothing more, nothing less. Dracula wasn’t one to break those boundaries, so he left it as it is. Their friendship was just as important as anything else.

So why was he longing to be in a relationship?

The question plagued him for many days, trying to understand why he wanted to be loved. He had his family and friends who loved him, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to be longed for and sought after, and he wanted to do the same. He longed for happiness and comfort, and Ericka was the closest thing to that.

His train of thought disrupted him when his phone began to ring. He viewed the call and saw that it was Ericka. He answered the call, clearing his throat.

“Hey,” he said nervously, “how are you?”

“ _I’m good_ ,” she said shortly over the phone, “ _I just… I just wanted to know if you were okay_.”

“Um… you did?” Dracula said, body straightening up at the sound of her voice.

“ _Yeah_ ,” she said. “ _I know the conversation we had was kinda heavy, so I just wanted to know if you were okay_.”

“I am,” he said. That was a lie. He couldn’t lie to her, “I mean… I _have_ to be okay, I guess.”

“ _You don’t sound okay_ ,” she pointed out, “ _you’re upset aren’t you?_ ”

“What? No. No, no, no,” he told her, getting up and started to pace around the room. “I can’t make you want to date me, you have to want that for yourself.”

“ _It’s not just about the dating aspect_ ,” she explained, “there are ** _some_** _things I want to keep for myself, you know. And those things are things I’m afraid of showing you because you’ll be scared of me_.”

“Ericka, I am the Prince of Darkness,” Dracula bragged, “I fear nothing.”

“ _That’s what you say now, but later on-_ “

“Listen to me,” he said gently, sensing she was nervous, “I have been over at your house, cooked your dinner, and fed your cat for nearly three months now. You’d think I would throw all of that away?”

“ _… No_ ,” she reasoned.

“And have I made you feel in _any_ way uncomfortable or bad about yourself?” he asked, another pause between the two.

“ _No_ ,” she said, a little more confident.

“Exactly,” Dracula said. “Now, I respect your decision about keeping things the way they are, but I would still like to get to know you better…”

“ _I know, but when_ ** _I’m_** _ready_ ,” she reminded him.

“Of course,” he said as stopped in his tracks. He was now on the ceiling from walking involuntarily around his room. He sat on the ceiling, “so… what are you going to do this evening?”

“ _Well I’m probably gonna watch some tv, play with my cat, you know_ ,” she said over the phone.

“What tv shows are on during the evening?” he asked.

“ _Oh, it’s a boring show… it’s kinda ironic but I love it. You don’t wanna know_ ,” she spared him.

“Come on, try me,” Dracula urged.

“ _It’s called The Search for the Unexplained_ ,” she answered, “ _it’s a documentary about finding urban legends like the New Jersey Devil and La Llorona._ ”

“You know, you can’t believe all those tv shows. Some of them just make us look bad,” he said, standing up and returning to the floor. “It’s all for the money at the end of the day.”

“ _But it’s good for my soul_ ,” she said.

“Well you enjoy your little show,” he said, “see you soon.”

“ _Drac?_ ” she responded, not wanting to not hear him, “ _Thank you_.”

“For what?” he asked.

“ _For understanding me… it makes it so much easier for me to talk to you_ ,” she told him, her voice soothing.

“Of course,” he told her. He said goodbye to her and hung up. He soon ventured out and conducted his nightly routine of running the hotel.

* * *

Dracula had tended to his monster guests, especially to his friends who were still here even after the baby shower. They were down at the lobby, seeing their friend. He had a somewhat approachable appearance, but the guys knew something was off about him.

“Hey, buddy what’s going on?” Frank asked, “you look kinda out of sorts.”

“Yeah, you look off,” Griffin said, his drink disappearing as he sipped it through a straw.

“Oh… I’m just a tad bit tired is all,” Dracula asked.

“Nah, Nah something is going on with you,” Murray asked.

“Well… I asked Ericka what we were in terms of our relationship with each other,” Dracula started, the three current monsters looking at him, “and she said she just wanted to stay as friends.”

“What?” Griffin said in total disbelief, “no way, she’s _gotta_ be hiding something.”

“I mean, you’re a catch. A bonafide ladies man!” Murray said.

“She did say that there were a lot of things about her that she wasn’t wanting to talk about just yet,” Dracula clarified. “She seemed so adamant about it.”

“Well then that’s it, man, she’s got a secret life she probably doesn’t want you to know about,” Griffin said, “by day a florist; by night, a-”

“A supermodel!” Murray called out.

“Maybe she works a late-night shift at another shop?” Frank eased.

“A sugar baby!” Griffin called out.

“Guys, guys, guys!” Dracula had shut the group down, “Ericka isn’t and _can’t_ be any of those things.”

“But Drac you don’t know that,” Murray said, “for all we know, she could be stepping out on you right now.”

“There’s nothing for her to be ‘stepping out’ on because she and I aren’t in a relationship,” Dracula said. “And as sad as I am about it, I can’t make her like me like that.”

“What else did she say?” Griffin asked.

“She says our friendship is the world to her and she didn't want to ruin it,” Dracula said, a bit begrudgingly.

“Well Dracula you gotta remember, you and Ericka are starting as friends,” Frank said, “it’s not like you two zinged.”

“That’s true… how long does it take to get to the boyfriend and girlfriend phase,” Dracula asked.

“Well, in your case, maybe a year and a half,” Griffin said, “Make that three years.”

“I’M GONNA HAVE TO WAIT FOR THREE YEARS FOR ERICKA TO LIKE ME BACK?” Dracula said in anguish, his hands on his head. “I can’t wait that long.”

“That’s what it’s like for humans, buddy,” Griffin explained, “for zingers like Mavis and Johnny, they can get married with no doubt, but for humans things take time.”

“But what about me? I haven’t zinged but I wanna be in a relationship…” Dracula said with a whine in his voice.

“You gotta go with the flow,” Murray eased, “who knows, maybe Ericka might switch up and get with you.”

“I highly doubt it,” Frank said, “if she’s just wanting to be friends, then don’t push it. Otherwise, you’ll lose more than just a friendship with Ericka.”

“You’re absolutely right. I’m not going to jeopardize a good thing,” Dracula said, his hands on his fist with determination.

“Good, now be the good guy and be her friend,” Griffin said, holding in a laugh.

“What, what’s so funny?” Dracula asked.

“Don’t laugh at him; it’s not his fault he got friend-zoned,” Murray said.

“Friend-zoned?” the ill-experienced vampire questioned.

“Don’t worry about Drac, you just go and do your hotel stuff,” Frank said.

Dracula huffed a bit and soon tended to the other hotel guests.

* * *

Mavis was in bed, resting and preparing for the arrival of her second child. She had made a digital checklist of everything that she needed so that there would be no obstacles. Still, there was a first for everything. She was searching through her phone when her father knocked on her bedroom door.

“Dad!” She said with a smile.

“Honey-guts!” He bellowed, zooming to her and hugging her in the bed. “How are my two little ghouls doing,” he said, referring to his unborn grandchild.

“I’m doing great dad, I actually thought about some really good baby names,” Mavis said as she looked at her father. “They’re not _too_ far-out-there but they are definitely a good catch.”

“Well you know I’m always here if you need a good name for a healthy baby,” he said, wanting to pull out the old book of names again.

“Right now I’m just checking everything for the baby’s arrival,” Mavis said, showing her father the check-list. Dracula had reviewed the checklist and chuckled.

“Why don’t we just do everything the way we did it the first time,” Dracula told her.

“Well I do, but I want the immediate family to here,” Mavis said. “You, grandpa Vlad-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dracula protested, “why in heaven would you want Vlad at the birth of your child’s birth?”

“Because I want him to be more involved with the family. I want him to be there for The new baby coming,” Mavis said.

“Your gramps would try to scare the fangs off of the baby the moment it came into the world,” Dracula scoffed.

“Oh, like how _you_ tried to go behind my back and scare Dennis?” Mavis shot back, Dracula’s lips curling into his mouth.

“It was a moment of desperation, ” he justified, but Mavis wasn't allowing it to go away.

“Dad, I’m serious. I want grandpa Vlad to be here when the baby comes. I want him to see the kid grow up,” Mavis wanted. “This would also be a good way for him and Dennis to get close too. Dennis _still_ doesn’t really know him well.”

“But devil-chops I-”

“Dad, it’s final,” she said as she had looked at him with stern eyes. “This also goes in line with how you did things last year.”

“It’s been a whole year and you’re _still_ upset about it?” Dracula said as he felt a tinge of anger.

“No, but I can’t just unsee what happened last year. You’ve been more honest, and I’m _so_ proud of you, but remember: I want you to continue being more open to it.”

“And I will,” he vowed. “But your gramps is still very traditional and all that junk. And you know how he can get.”

“Just try, please?” She asked as she looked at him with her blue eyes.

Dracula, knowing he couldn’t deny his daughter that, agreed. “But don’t expect your gramps to be all lovey-dovey with the baby when he comes to see it. He didn’t show me a look, so don't get upset.”

“You never know. They say that some grandparents do more for their grandkids as a means to make up time for their own kids,” Mavis stated.

“You’ve been reading too many human books,” Dracula said, arms crossed as Mavis chuckled.


	14. It’s A Girl!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mavis finally gives birth to her new child, bringing a daughter into the Dracula-Loughran bloodline; Johnny has a heart-to-heart moment with Dracula.

Ericka’s morning had started fairly easy.

She took a long shower, fixed herself a nice helping of oatmeal with cinnamon sprinkled all over it, and had fed Countess for the morning. She placed on a yellow blouse with pants that were boot cut at the bottom. She was starting her morning off productively.

Having placed her apron on to handle her flowers, she was ready to plant her personal flowers in the garden. She grabbed her phone to check any messages but was frustrated when she noticed her phone was de-charged throughout the night. Having gone to the outlet that was next to her nightstand, she quickly noticed that the adapter was not even connected. She huffed, as she now had to wait for her phone to charge. She took her cords and plugged them into her kitchen, where she would have to leave her phone for a few hours.

She headed out to her well-groomed garden in the back of her shop, her flowers growing at an exceptional rate. Ericka got on her knees and had started to plant some new plants into the ground, smiling a bit as she enjoyed cultivating her garden.

After some time, Ericka had gotten up and went to get herself a refresher, a glass of lemonade that she had purchased rather than make by herself. As she drank her lemonade, she heard her phone buzz on her kitchen counter. Her hand grabbed the phone and looked at the name of the message.

It was Dracula.

Ericka looked at the time and saw that it was way too _late_ for him to be up at this time. She had opened the message, but it showed a blurred picture and a ‘tap to view’ command on it. Ericka raised an eyebrow at the picture.

She tapped on it and revealed a picture of small baby feet, a pink blanket surrounding the pair. Ericka gasped at the picture. She had removed her apron, fed her cat some more food to hold her, and had called a regular taxi cab to drive her to the hotel.

* * *

Seven pounds of pure love and sweetness had filled the residential hospital room. Mavis, exhausted and tired, held her new baby girl in her arms. She had her mother’s hair and round head. Her hair was parted, her thin curls sitting on her head. Her eyes were closed but cooed at the slightest sound and noise.

“She’s beautiful, Mavis,” Johnny said, leaning down to kiss his wife sweetly, and leaned down to kiss the baby’s little head. “She looks like a mini-you,” he told her, the vampire laughing.

“Thanks, honey,” Mavis said, her eyes tired but fulfilled. “Where’s my dad?”

“Oh, he’s on the floor in the corner crying his eyes out,” Johnny said, the two turned around to see Dracula a sniffling mess. “You doing alright there, Drac?” he called out.

Dracula only responded with muffled little whimpers. The two had chuckled and gone back to focus on their baby. She began to open her eyes, but just barely, her eyes a bright blue.

“She has your eyes,” Johnny said as he looked at her, Mavis smiling as she was indeed a mini-Mavis.

Dracula, having composed himself, had approached the two and saw the baby. She was so tiny and fragile, just like Mavis when she was born. “My precious little blood orange,” he cooed.

“Do you wanna hold her?” Mavis asked him, Dracula trying to hold the tears back.

“Yes,” he said excitedly. She had carefully transferred the baby to her father, the grandfather holding his granddaughter close to him. “She’s absolutely beautiful,” he said to Mavis. “Do you know what her name will be? A baby as breath-taking as this one should be given a perfect name.”

“It’s up to Mavis,” Johnny said, “what’s the name gonna be?”

“Her name is gonna be-”

The door had opened, a red aura surrounding the room. There had stood Vlad, a menacing look on his face. “Alright, where’s the kid!”

“Hi grandpa Vlad,” Mavis said, Johnny slightly cowering under the bedsheet.

“ _Dad_ , serious? A dramatic entrance _every_ time?” Dracula questioned his father, who slid into the room.

“Is this the kid?” Vlad questioned the two.

“No, it’s a random kid Mavis and Johnny kidnapped,” Dracula said snappily, his back being slouched.

“Fix your posture!” Vlad said, “you don’t want to make a bad impression when meeting the newest edition to the Dracula bloodline.”

“-And Loughran bloodline!” Johnny had told them.

“I’m not slouching,” Dracula protested. “How did you travel up here? The sun is nearly out,” he said to his father.

“I’m not a dummy. I traveled through the shadows,” Vlad said. He looked at the baby girl in Dracula’s arms. “Now let me see that beautiful little girl.”

“Um…” Dracula was hesitant, due to how Vlad was in general.

“Stop being a wuss-bag and give me the kid,” Vlad said, a wave of his hand and having the baby levitate towards him. Vlad had the baby in his hands now, the child a speck compared to him. Her eyes were slightly opened, Vlad’s thumb fixing her hair. “She’s going to be a _special_ kid,” he said before giving the baby back to Mavis.

“I’m so happy that you’re here,” Mavis said as she had held her slightly cooing baby. “So do you guys wanna know what the baby’s name is?”

“Yes, please,” Dracula said.

“It should be a name of regality and royalty,” Vlad said, conjuring a far more ancient book of vampire names.

“Mavis already picked out her name though,” Johnny said, having come out of hiding and sat next to Mavis in a chair. “tell them, honey.”

“Her name is-”

Once again, the door had burst open, one of the Suits of Armor marching in. “Sir! A visitor is waiting for you in the lobby,” it said.

“Not now! We’re dealing with the birth of a new baby,” Dracula said, not wanting to take his eyes off of his new granddaughter. The knight had approached him and whispered in his ear, in which Dracula rolled his eyes "Can it wait?”

“Yes, Sir!” he said, saluting the Count and heading back out, Dracula sighing.

“Dad, what was that all about?” Mavis asked.

“Nothing important that should keep me away from my granddaughter,” he said as he looked at the baby.

“You go and see what’s going on, dad. We’ll be fine,” Mavis said.

“If you say so,” Dracula said, zooming out of the room.

“I wonder what’s with Mr. Tough Guy,” Vlad thought out loud, Johnny looking away and tried not to give off any signs of knowing what was going on.

* * *

Dracula had sauntered downstairs to the lobby to see who needed his attention more than his infant granddaughter. He had looked over to see Ericka, who sat prettily on the chair waiting for Dracula to come downstairs.

The Count had gasped happily.

He had slowly hovered to her but did not let her know of his presence just yet. Unsuspecting and idle in her chair, Dracula had hovered right behind her to which he had soon wrapped an arm around her neck playfully.

That was a mistake he would soon regret.

Unsuspecting himself, Ericka screamed a fierce battle cry, grabbing Dracula’s forearm and throwing him forward over her body, the vampire crashing onto a small coffee table.

“Ericka!” Dracula called, the woman about to strike him. "It's me!"

Ericka, having come out of her state of self-defense, had come to and gasped. “Oh my god… I’m so sorry-”

As she spoke, the feeling of breath leaving gotten to him. “Nope-“ he strained, “it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have surprised you like that,” he said as he looked at her from the angle he was in. After he had gained his senses, he had gotten up. Ericka helped, pulling his arm up and looking at him with a red face.

“I’m so sorry. I-I-I learned self-defense since I was little…” she explained to him.

“Well you know how to hold your own, I’ll tell you that,” Dracula compliment, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a splinter and pulling it out. He had chuckled at the situation, Ericka following after.

“Congratulations on your newborn granddaughter,” Ericka told him, centering her reasons for coming. “I came as soon as you sent the picture.”

“Yeah, she’s beautiful,” he said, thinking about the child. “Her name is… um.”

“ _Um_? I don’t think that’s a becoming name for a baby girl,” Ericka teased.

“Mavis has been trying to tell us all day, but something _always_ comes up,” Dracula said. “My dad is here and-”

“Wait, you have a dad?” Ericka questioned, giggling a bit, “that’s funny.”

“Anyways,” he said loudly, Ericka chuckling a bit, “he’s here and he’s… he’s my dad so…”

“Lemme guess: he’s a bit of an over-domineering, cranky and critical man?” she explained, Dracula laughing.

“You hit the nail on the head,” Dracula confirmed, “how would you know that?”

“Let’s just say a relative of mine is the same way,” she said. She had soon remembered what she was here for. “I have this for you,” she said as she pulled out a box of cookies that were dusted with pink sprinkles. “These are called _beschuit met muisjes_.”

“Oh, Ericka this is lovely,” Dracula said, taking the box of cookies, Ericka smiling with pearly whites at the sincerity in his face.

“I’m Dutch, and in my cultural whenever a baby is born, these are given as a symbol of a successful birth,” Ericka said, turning slightly red and facing away from him. “I had ordered them a few days ago for this occasion.”

“How did you know it would be a baby girl?” he asked.

“I didn’t… they didn’t have any more blue or white cookies,” Ericka said, gushing over it all. “Do you… do you like it?”

“I love it,” he said, looking at her and smiling. “Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it. But I have to go back up and see Mavis and the baby, I’ll see you later,” he said before turning away. He had tripped over the broken pieces of the coffee table, “oh boy.”

“I’ll pay for it,” she said as she rubbed her arm.

“No no, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “I was needing to toss the old coffee tables out.”

He had thanked her again for the cookies and headed back upstairs.

When he returned, Mavis was asleep, the baby in a bassinet, and Johnny looking in it to watch his new child. Dracula had approached his sleeping daughter and kissed her head, a soft hum leaving her. He had looked at Johnny, who had looked over his new daughter.

“How does it feel to be the father of a little girl?” Dracula asked him.

“Totes awesome,” Johnny said. “It’s like Dennis all over but this time with Marina.”

“Is that what you guys chose for her?” he asked him, a smile on his face. “That’s a _beautiful_ name.”

“I said the same thing,” he said, the baby cooing just a little. “Mavis had gotten the idea of giving her that name when she got that bouquet for her baby shower.”

“Rosa Marina,” Dracula confirmed. “It’s weird, Ericka just picked that flower randomly…”

“Mavis was so happy about it,” Johnny said, reaching his finger down to play with her small hand. “It's been a while since you had a little girl running around, I immediately thought of how you were gonna be with her. And your monster buddies are gonna be so protective of her and the monster ladies are gonna gish over her. And Dennis: oh man, I can already see Dennis being so protective of her!.”

“She's definitely going to be my little girl, too,” Dracula said, seeing how her eyes shifted under her lids, her eyelashes resting on her full cheeks.

“Yeah... I don't know why, but I'm nervous. I've never been a girl, and I've never raised a girl either. With Dennis it's easy was easy, you know? But With Marina... it's gonna be a lot,” Johnny said, feeling slightly discouraged.

"You know, when it was just me and Mavis, I didn't know who to go to for help. I had to do it all on my own for a while. But you have an advantage; you have Mavis, and she can help you with Marina," Dracula said, remembering all the trouble he had with Mavis when he was starting as a single father.

"What about you?" Johnny asked.

"What about me?" Dracula asked back, an eyebrow up.

"You're so protective of Mavis even though she's all grown up. And when Marina gets slightly older, she may run to you instead of me or Mavis," Johnny said to him, “but if anything comes up with Marina, I’ll come to you for sure, kay?”

Dracula felt a swirl of feelings flood his chest. Despite how Dracula treated him, Johnny was still a scrappy human with a heart of gold. No matter how weird Dracula got with him, the human helped him and his hotel, his newfound friendship with Ericka. “Thank you, Jonathan. I appreciate you saying that.”

“Don’t mention it,” Johnny said. He had soon let out a yawn and had stretched. “I think I’m gonna sleep here for today, just to make sure the baby is alright.”

“Same,” he said as he yawned himself. “By the way, Ericka brought these over for you guys as a ‘symbol of a successful birth’ or something like that.” He handed him the cookies.

“Oh sweet, muisjes,” he said. “So she’s Dutch huh? That’s cool.”

“How did you… oh right, you like to travel a lot. Yeah, she’s Dutch. And she's pretty good in fighting,” Dracula added.

“How do you-”

“I found out the hard way,” Dracula said, having flashbacks of her tossing him like he was nothing.

“Um… okay,” Johnny said. “So how _has_ your relationship with Ericka been? You guys getting _close_?”

“Oh that… I had asked her the question of what our relationship was, and she went on to say that she values our friendship a lot more.”

“I’m sorry, Drac. But at least you have your friendship, and nothing is more beautiful than friendship, am I right?” Johnny told him.

“Yes,” Dracula said, coming to terms with the situation.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you: your dad is staying for a couple of days here at the hotel. He said something about having a ‘vampire influence’ around her and stuff like that..”

“Ugh…” Dracula groaned. “Great, now I have to _entertain_ my father for the next few days.”

“Hey, it’s not all bad,” Johnny reassured him, “maybe he won’t be a bother to you.”

“Have you _seen_ the way my dad is?” Dracula said incredulously, “he’s like a giant stain you can’t get rid of.”

“If you say so,” Johnny said. “Anyways, I’m gonna sleep for a bit, good morning.”

“Good morning,” he said as he left, Johnny settling in the chair and falling asleep instantly.

Dracula had returned to his room, the Count not even peeling his clothes off and fell asleep in them. He was tired, but it was worth it. His granddaughter was healthy and awake, being in the hands of two loving parents.


	15. New Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mavis and Johnny talk about hiring a babysitter; Dracula vents to Ericka about his past issues with Mavis.

Mavis had since given birth to Marina, she was excited to get back at it again with her duties at the hotel, from handling check-in to making sure that the hotel’s guests were happy and satisfied with their room choices.

However, like Dennis, she had to rest and heal up before getting back to work. Even vampires need time.

Mavis was laid in bed, looking at her newborn baby girl, who was swaddled from the waist down and had her arms out. She had a pink and black onesie with bear claw gloves to keep her from scratching herself. Mavis was propped on her side, watching Marina moving her little hands and cooing.

Johnny soon knocked on the door, entering their bedroom with a plate of ‘scream’ cheese. “Hey, honey,” he called softly, knowing that the baby was awake.

“Hey,” Mavis said softly, looking at Johnny. “Is that for me?” she asked.

“Of course, babe,” Johnny cooed, giving the plate to her and sitting next to her. “hey little dudette,” he said in a whisper to Marina, who had laid idly next to her mother.

“How has the hotel been without me?” she asked Johnny, “I’m sure my dad is doing everything himself, like always.”

“Well your dad is always handling the hotel,” Johnny told her, “I’ve been helping a lot and junk, but I don’t doubt that he misses you.”

“You think? He usually does everything on his own, and I just started helping out after Dennis’s fifth birthday,” Mavis said. She spent the first five years of Dennis's life being a parent, trying to figure out this new experience altogether. And now with Marina, She had to take care of her already young son _and_ her newborn daughter. “Now I feel like I won’t get back to work any time soon.”

“Hey don’t worry, maybe we can get someone to babysit,” Johnny said, looking at Marina preparing to sneeze, which she did. He grabbed a soft tissue and cleaned her nose.

“A babysitter?” Mavis said, unsure about that being an option, “I don’t know. I don’t trust my baby with anybody.”

“It doesn’t have to be just _anybody_ ,” Johnny helped reassure, “it can be someone we know. You can get Drac or your grandpa to babysit her and Dennis.”

“No!” Mavis said quickly, Johnny cocking his eyebrow at her sudden disapproval, “I mean, no as in - he’s already doing so much work with the hotel, I couldn’t possibly stress him out anymore.” Johnny crossed his arms and ‘hmph’ed at Mavis. “What?”

“Mavis… it’s been over a year,” Johnny said, “you can’t hold it over him forever.”

“What are you talking about?” Mavis asked. “I’m not holding _anything_ over my dad.”

“Look, I get that you wanted to move Dennis to California with my folks, but did you really think that your dad wouldn’t be sad being alone at the hotel?” Johnny told her, “did you think about what that would do to him?”

Mavis had sighed heavily, thinking about the incident last year. “I just wanted Dennis to grow up knowing about the world instead of being sheltered from it.”

“And he won’t,” Johnny affirmed, taking her hand, “and we’re not gonna shelter Marina either. We’re gonna teach them everything we know about the world through experience.”

“Right. We’ll go on family vacations and step out more,” Mavis said, “it’s just that my dad is… I don’t know. He’s just doesn’t know how to let go, and I can’t trust him enough to let go. _And_ he kept secrets from me.”

“He’s still trying,” Johnny said, “you gotta give him credit for that at least.”

“I guess he has, hasn’t he,” Mavis said. “he hasn’t been as weird with the humans, so that’s good. I mean you spent time with him, right? He’s been good.”

“Better than good,” Johnny said but had caught himself from saying any more information. “Uh, anyway, you think on the babysitting idea, I’m gonna go and check up on Dennis,” Johnny told him as he bid his wife and daughter goodbye. As Johnny approached the door, he heard the shuffle of feet leave quickly.

When he opened the door, he saw Dracula walked down, gliding down the hallway, his cape behind him. Johnny didn’t think anything of it, only continuing with his evening and tending to Dennis.

* * *

Ericka was brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. She was in a simple pair of white pajama pants and a yellow sleep shirt that clung to her hourglass shape. She had spat out the white foam, rinsing with mouth wash, and patted her mouth dry. She was about to go to bed when she had heard a knock on her window. The florist jumped, her head whipping back to see a figure there.

She didn’t take kindly to that and had grabbed a book and hurled it at the window, to which a man had screamed. Ericka had rushed to the window and opened it. A bat was flying in front of her. “Oh… it’s just a cute little bat,” she said to herself.

The bat had changed into a vampire, the Count more specifically.

She had gasped. “Oh… Drac. You startled me,” she chuckled breathlessly.

He had floated there, being quiet, his eyes glossy, as if he was crying. Ericka, being a person of detail, had noticed. “Something’s wrong… come in,” she said to him as she reached out to him, the vampire extending his hand to take hers.

He sulked in, immediately breaking down in front of Ericka. She listened to him saunter around her room as he expressed what he was feeling. She could only nod in agreement, not wanting to keep him from venting.

“…And it’s just so _hard_ to exist in a world that once didn’t accept you, and now you have to _be_ part of the world now,” Dracula finished. He had sat down on her bed finally, Ericka jumping as the mattress was soft. “All I want to do is protect her and her children, but I don’t know how to let go. I want her to trust me, but I don’t even trust _myself_.”

Ericka had crossed her legs, taking a pillow to the gap between her legs, and had used it as elbow support. “Why are you so overprotective of your daughter?” she asked him.

“Okay, I’m gonna say it as simple as possible,” he told her, inhaling and exhaling, “my wife was killed by humans…”

Ericka gasped, a hand over her mouth, “oh my god…” she said. “I mean… I knew she was out of the picture but… killed? By humans?”

“Yes,” Dracula said, “I couldn’t protect my wife, but I had the opportunity to protect Mavis. Everything I did, I did for her. Even if it meant homeschooling her, keeping her inside the hotel, lying to her-“

“I understand why you would want to protect your daughter... and while I understand that your wife dying had triggered you into keeping your daughter safe, you didn't think that that would cripple her too?” Ericka asked. “Her not having any social skills, not being able to read social cues? Not being able to have a relationship?”

“No… I was worried more about keeping my daughter safe,” Dracula said, his hand in his hair. “I had also tricked into thinking that humans were bad by making the staff create a fake town and being fake humans and-"

"What?" Ericka said, "you tricked your daughter into staying in the hotel forever? That's horrible!" Ericka scolded her.

"I learned my lesson, alright?" he groaned, the woman crossing her arms, "all of that changed when I saw how sad Mavis was when Jonathan had nearly disappeared from her life... and when she and Johnny zinged, I realized that I caused the great pain of robbing my child a chance at love and adventure. I had to make things right by finding him and bringing him back to her.”

“Zing?” she asked, “what’s a zing?”

“It’s a thing for monsters,” he told her, “it’s the human equivalent to love at first sight.”

“Wow…” Ericka said, laying on her side now, the pillow tucked under her torso and elbow, her hand holding her head up. “It must be wonderful to have a supernatural phenomenon tether you to your one true love. It’s kinda like that Chinese myth of having an invisible string attached to you and it never breaks…”

“What about you?” Dracula asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked him.

“Have you loved someone? Have you _lost_ someone before?” he asked.

“Oh… um… wow,” Ericka was stunted with that question, her cheeks flaring up. “That’s… That’s a sensitive topic for me that I’m not ready to speak on yet.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, seeing her get red in her face. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I just… I was just feeling vulnerable and… I didn’t want you to think _you_ had to be vulnerable with me too.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she said as she had gotten up, a hand over his shoulder to reassure him he did nothing wrong. “I’ll say this: _I_ had cut the strings of fate myself.”

“You seem to be opening up more… I like that,” Dracula said. “Soon you’ll be telling me your whole life story.”

“Yeah… right,” Ericka said, a nervous chuckle.

“Thank you for letting me just vent,” he said, his thumbs twiddling about and tips of his toes curled into each other like he was a child who got into trouble. But here he didn’t feel like he was in trouble. He felt safe. Suddenly, he felt the weight of the other on his shoulder.

“Any time, Count,” Ericka said, her eyes closed as she rested her head on him, her hands in one another. Drac rested his head on hers, the woman humming at the mutual gesture. They stayed like this for a little bit until. Dracula’s eyes looked down at her soft and fair hands. His other hand went over to touch her, but he heard a soft yawn from the woman. Ericka started to fall asleep on him, her eyes closed.

With care, the Count slipped away from her and had placed her under her sheets. He soon heard the soft meow of her cat Countess, seeing her white fur hanging from her feline shape as she sauntered onto the bed and laid at the foot of her bed.

“You take care of her now,” Dracula told her, the cat meowing in response. He chuckled and headed out of her room and flown back to the hotel.

* * *

Dracula had flown back to his establishment, fixing himself, and entered through the revolving doors. There was staff doing their duties around the hotel, from the Suits of Armor standing at attention to the zombies manning the check-in. He spotted his father, who was being flirted with by three of the housekeeping witches.

He had sighed and motioned to his father, “so are you checking out or…”

“I still have a few days left here at your fancy-schmancy hotel,” Vlad said, his feet on the new coffee table. “Where were you?”

“Out,” Drac said shortly.

“Out where?” Vlad asked, his nose twitching as he smelled something.

“Just out! Gosh,” Dracula said as he tried to avoid him.

“Wait a minute,” Vlad said, soon excusing himself from the trio of witches, who swooned remorsefully as he left their presence. The elder vampire had leaned in over his son, his nose like a vacuum and smelling him. “You smell funny.”

“What are you talking about?” Dracula asked, pulling up his cape to cover himself as his father was violating his personal space.

“You smell like a girl,” Vlad said, circling him as he sniffed him up and down. “A _human_ girl.”

“The outside world is full of humans, _dad_ ,” he said, fixing himself.

“My nose doesn’t fool me: you were with a human woman right now,” Vlad said. “Funny; you said you still didn’t like humans, and here you are getting close and personal with them.”

“Dad, stop. It’s not even like that,” Dracula said, his cheeks flaring up a tint of pink.

“How long have you been stepping out to see this human?” Vlad asked him. “Just say it.”

“Ugh…” the younger vampire groaned, “around three months… a hundred or so days to be exact.”

“Your young daughter has been bedridden with your then-unborn granddaughter and you’re out here shacking up with humans?” Vlad said. “Does she even know?”

“No,” Dracula said regretfully, “and I would appreciate it if you eat your gums shut about it!”

“Or what? You’re gonna beat me up?,” Vlad said, pulling his sleeves up and revealing his pale blue skin, “I may be over a thousand years old but I can still kick your tuchus!”

“I don’t wanna fight you, not with your trick knee,” Dracula jeered. “I don’t want Mavis to find out, not until I’m ready.”

“You’re such a pansy,” Vlad said. “I wasn’t gonna tell anyway. I will however have you do favors for me for my silence.” he soon laughed and headed back to his hotel room.

Dracula had sighed, his hand on his chest. With his dad on his cape about him and Ericka, he had to appease his father to keep him quiet. “What am I gonna do…” he said, rubbing his temples.

* * *

After working throughout the evening into the morning, Dracula had sauntered back into his room, removing his clothes and taking a shower. He dried up and placed on his pajamas, his phone in his hand as he was waiting for that little morning/goodnight text from Ericka.

His phone was on his chest, his eyes closed as he in his coffin thinking about that moment he and Ericka shared. She felt so warm on his shoulder. He wanted to hold her and lull her to sleep, but he was too damn nervous. A simple kiss on her temple would have done it, but he kept it cool.

A text startled the vampire.

He had picked up the phone, opening the text:

_Good morning, Drac_

_hope you’re feeling better_

_Have a good sleep_

Dracula felt a warmth build inside of him as he saw the texts. He had texted her back with a little heart emote and had soon fallen asleep.


	16. The Secrecies of Count Dracula

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Mavis go forth with finding a babysitter for Dennis and Marina; Dennis wants to play with his new baby sister.

Dracula was greeting his monster guests and humans guest, as usual, the monsters chatting up with their usual core monster friends, and even stumbled upon some of their human friends. Johnny was also working the shift but was a little bit distracted than that of the Count. He was glued to his phone, thumbs slapping away as he looked apprehensive.

Dracula noticed this and had picked up on it and spoke. “And you say _I’m_ glued to my phone. Humans and their technology,” he said before scoffing playfully.

“What?” Johnny slurred, “sorry Drac, I’m just a little bit worried.”

“About what?” He asked as he looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking up. He was on a page that showed off professional babysitters. At first, Dracula wanted to call him out on it, but he had to pretend he didn’t know. “What is this about?”

“Listen, don’t tell Mavis, but I’m trying to set the kids up with a really cool babysitter,” he told Dracula. “If Mavis is gonna be hands-on around her, the kids need to be watched.”

“What happened with having family babysit, like _me_ ,” Dracula told him.

“Don’t worry, I’m looking for the best of the best! But I don’t know how to find a human babysitter for Dennis and Marina,” Johnny said with worry, “would having a ‘special needs’ babysitter be a good fit?”

“‘Special needs’? Are you crazy?” Dracula called him. “Dennis is a perfectly normal boy, and Marina has just come into our life. They are just children.”

“With vampire genes,” Johnny argued. “I’m trying to find a good babysitter, to that way when Mavis is here, she won’t be worried about the baby.”

“I really don’t see why I can’t babysit the kids,” Dracula pouted, “Dennis is my little devil doll, and Marina should know how great her vampa is.”

“Well if you babysit them, then who's gonna run the hotel?” Johnny asked.

Dracula would have replied back, but this time he didn’t have a rebuttal. Who _would_ run the hotel while he was taking care of the hotel? Mavis didn’t have the skills he had yet, Johnny was a simple human who dealt with human-related issues, and the staff didn’t have the patience to deal with humans _or_ monsters altogether. Dracula was the heart and soul of the hotel; it would be rather weird to not have him around.

“You’re right...” Dracula said. “It would be a lot to juggle for Mavis.”

“And don’t worry, we’ll find someone who's really good with kids,” Johnny said. “Should we have a human or monster babysitter?”

Dracula rubbed his head, pulling out his own phone and texting Ericka the nonsense that was happening, to which Ericka texted him back with a heart emote and told him to be calm and just help out. The two texted back and forth, to which Dracula put his phone down his pocket and had crossed his arm.

“I get why she doesn’t want me to babysit the kids... but it’s been over a year,” Dracula said. “I don’t hold things over her head.”

“You know how Mavis is with Dennis,” Johnny said with hopes that Dracula can see past the hurt, “but it’s still a thing that she carries with her.”

“But when will she stop holding it over my head?” Dracula told him in a rather frustrated tone. He had soon heard a loud bell ring from across the room, to which he spotted his father in hotel robe and slippers. He had a platter of the tasting platter, which consisted of little bite-size pieces jumping up and down.

“Ugh, great,” Dracula said, leaving Johnny in his state of searching to address his father. “What is it.”

“I want a nice plate of rat dogs sent to my room with a nice bottle of sparkling ghoul please, thank you,” Vlad told his son.

“Dad, can you please take your _hooves_ off the table?” Dracula told his father, who had looked at him deadpanned.

“Is that any way to treat your pop?” He asked. “Can’t a vampire just rest after a long night of doing nothing?”

“Dad, this is my hotel, I would like for it to be _remotely_ clean,” Dracula told him.

“Fine. Maybe I’ll go back up to my recently upgraded suite and on the way make a pit stop by your daughter’s room and tell her about your little human girlfriend.” Dracula turned paler than usual at the underhanded threat his father gave him.

“Fine, fine, just please don’t tell Mavis,” he told him, the elder vampire chuckling.

“That’s what I thought,” Vlad simpered as he soon headed up to his suite. He soon had rubbed his forehead and had stretched as he looked at the mess his father left on the coffee table.

* * *

Marina was safe and sound in her bassinet, gossamer curtains over to keep light away from her so that she can be asleep. She wore a black baby dress with little gloves on her hands. Her hair was definitely her mother’s, her soft tresses sitting on her head nicely.

It was then that Dennis had entered the room where they held the baby at. He was in his jersey shirt with the number six on it. Dennis wanted to see his new baby sister more closely. He had only seen her briefly when she was first born, but he wanted to see the very thing he would protect.

Hovering over the bassinet, the boy had looked at the baby, the little one cooing upon shifting on the bassinet. “Hey, Marina,” he said in a soft whisper, “I hope I’m not bothering you,” he said as he had scooted next to her little body.

“I thought of keeping you company since mommy might be busy with Papa Drac’s hotel,” he said as he had looked at her. “We can play hide and go seek sharp objects or maybe watch Kakie,” he said as if she were able to respond. She was still asleep, Dennis getting settled.

He had then heard a voice from behind him. “Dennis, what are you doing?”

Dennis jumped and turned around to see his mother, who was in her usual everyday black wear. “Oh… uh nothing,” he lied.

“Why are you sitting in her bassinet?” Mavis said, picking him and placing him on the bed.

“Cebuz I wanted to spend time with my baby sister. She can watch Kakie the Cake monster and play hide and seek,” Dennis explained.

“Oh baby, it’s so sweet you thought of your baby sister,” Mavis applauded, cupping his round face and kissing his forehead. “but Marina is too young to understand what’s going on around her. When she gets a little older then we can do those things.”

“How come?” Dennis asked innocently.

Mavis gave an exasperated chuckled. “Just trust me when I say she can’t.”

“Okay… but can I play with her just a _little_ bit?” Dennis said.

Mavis chuckled at her son, “No. Go and find some other monsters to play with.”

“Okay,” Dennis said, “bye-bye mommy! Bye-bye Marina.” He soon headed out of her room, Mavis smiling as Dennis wanted to be the big brother to Marina. She soon focused her attention on her little girl, who was still sleeping in her mother’s arms.

* * *

Dracula was walking through one of the hotel’s hallways, all the shrunken heads ironically yelling ‘do not disturb’. He passed by them all, their grainy and nasal voices passing through his ears as he was not interested in the one bet.

His phone had rung, opening his screen to see that Ericka had called.

His heart raced slightly. He had impulsively called her, waiting for her to pick up. She soon answered his call. “ _Hello?_ ”

“Hello, Ericka it’s me,” he said, holding his cape. “I saw you had meant to call me but I didn’t see.”

“ _Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out together during the weekend,”_ Ericka asked, sounding sincere and sweet as always.

This made the Count smile wide, “I would love to,” he told her. “What would you have plans for us?”

“ _Well… I’m not sure what stores are open during the nighttime for monsters_ ,” Ericka started, sounding as if she was trying to figure out where to go for someone like him.

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Dracula spoke with achievement in his voice. “There is an antique store and a pet shop open, not to mention a couple of clothing store but I wouldn’t be too keen-”

“ _Oh the pet store_ ,” Ericka exclaimed with excitement, “ _I was thinking of getting some new cat toys for Countess and try, and maybe style up my place from stuff in the antique store_.”

“Well let us make a date of it,” Dracula told her.

“ _Great! Saturday night then_?” she asked.

“Saturday night,” he told her as he smiled. “See you then.”

“ _See you_!” she told him before hanging up. Dracula held the phone to his chest, smiling as he was going to see her again.

“Well, well, well, looks like Count _Casanova_ got himself a date,” one of the shrunken heads jeered, “did you hypnotize her to fall for you?”

“No, I did not hypnotize her. And for your information she and I are not dating,” Dracula clarified, “we’re just friends.”

“Uh-huh, and I’m a swimsuit model,” the shrunken head said with sarcasm, “does your daughter even know that you’re dating?”

“I told you we are not dating,” Dracula said with frustration. “I would never date a human!” he tried to convince himself that.

“Of all the monster girls you could have gone for, you had to choose a human? You are _such_ a hypocrite,” the shrunken head spoke.

“And this hypocrite is paying you to do your job, _which_ you’re not doing well at by the way,” Dracula said.

“I could be broke and still be right!” the disembodied head said. “Now go and get ready for your pretend-date!”

“SHUT UP!” Dracula growled, the rows of shrunken heads shouting ‘do not disturb’ in unison.

**Author's Note:**

> So I started a new fic. I’m putting a semi-permanent hold on the Countess fanfic. I’ve been wanting to make a new fic for a while. I’ve even written a journal about all the ideas I wanted to do with this particular fandom. So here it is.


End file.
